Football won the night's top ratings and pushed NBC to a win for the night, while ABC's new airline drama "Pan Am" got off to a respectable start with its series premiere, according to preliminary numbers.
Fox scored the top numbers of the night with overrun from the face-off between the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears at 7 p.m., which drew a 7.6 rating/21 share in the adults 18-49 demographic and 18.8 million total viewers. NBC's "Sunday Night Football," meanwhile, won the night's second strongest numbers at 8:30, racking up a 7.2/17 in the demo and 17.7 million total viewers. The strong performance by "SNF" pushed NBC to an overall win for the evening with an average 5.9/15 in the demo and 14.9 million total viewers.
Following the NFL overrun and the post-game airing of "The O.T." at 7:30 (which took a 4.7/13 in the demo and 11.1 million total viewers), Fox primarily treaded water versus last year with its slate of animated-series premieres. The season premiere of "The Simpsons" at 8 showed a 3 percent gain over last year's premiere with a 3.8/10 in the demo and 7.9 million total viewers, while the season premiere of "The Cleveland Show" was flat with last September's premiere with a 3.1/7 in the demo and 6 million total viewers. The "Family Guy" premiere the following hour took a 9 percent dip compared to last year's season bow with a 4.1/9 in the demo and 7.6 million total viewers, while "American Dad" pulled even with last October's premiere, grabbing a 3.0/7 in the demo and 5.7 million total viewers.
ABC, meanwhile, had a mixed evening. A special airing of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" at 7 drew a 1.3/4 in the demo and 5.4 million total viewers, while the season premiere of the series the following hour was down 8 percent versus last September's premiere, with a 2.3/6 in the demo and 8.7 million total viewers. The season premiere of "Desperate Housewives" at 9 was down considerably versus last year's premiere, dropping 28 percent to its lowest premiere ever with a 3.1/7 in the demo and 9.7 million total viewers. The "Pan Am" series premiere closed the evening at 10 with a 3.1/8 in the demo and 10.8 million total viewers.
CBS saw declines across the board with its slate of premieres Sunday night. The "60 Minutes" premiere at 7 dipped 16 percent compared to last year with a 2.6/7 in the demo and 12.5 million total viewers, while "The Amazing Race" premiere the following hour dropped 21 percent versus its last fall premiere, posting a 3.0/7 in the demo and 10.5 million total viewers. "The Good Wife" at 9 was likewise down, dropping 12 percent versus last fall's premiere (which aired on a Tuesday at 10 p.m.) to its lowest premiere ever with a 2.2/5 in the demo and 10.4 million total viewers. "CSI: Miami" closed the evening at 10, also posting a 2.2/5 — a 31 percent decline versus its last season premiere last October — and 9.3 million total viewers.
