“Sunday Night Football” continues to bring in big ratings for NBC, propelling the network to its fifth consecutive Sunday night win, while ABC's airline drama "Pan Am" dropped 27 percent in the coveted adults 18-49 demographic versus last week.
With the defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers playing the Atlanta Falcons, a team it bounced from the playoffs last year, the game notched a 14.0 overnight rating. That is up 20 percent from last year’s week five game and up 30 percent from 2009.
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In terms of the all-important adults 18-49 demo, Sunday's game was also up, climbing 8 percent ove last week with a 7.9 rating/19 share, and 19.4 million total viewers. Combined with back-to-back episodes of "Football Night in America" at 7:30 and 8, NBC pulled an average 6.5/16 in the demo and 16.2 million total viewers.
Winning the night is nothing new for “Sunday Night Football,” it did so 18 consecutive weeks last year. However, that is also the best overnight rating for the broadcast since NBC bought the property six years ago.
The next closest was in 2007, when the Packers lost to the Chicago Bears.
The show has increased its dominance each year on air, taking nine of 16 Sundays its first year, then 11 of 16, then 13 of 16, then 15 of 16 and finally, going 18 for 18 last year.
It seems viewers in Milwaukee did not tire of sports after watching their Milwaukee Brewers win game one of Major League Baseball’s National League Championship Series Sunday afternoon.
Milwaukee, in the heart of Packer country, led all metered markets for “Sunday Night Football.”
Meanwhile, ABC had an evening of downturns. "America's Funniest Home Videos" at 7 and "Extreme Makeover" the following hour experienced minor dips, taking a 1.4/4 and 2.0/5 in the demo, respectively, with 6.6 and 7.3 million total viewers. "Desperate Housewives" at 9 dropped 10 percent, tying its series low with a 2.7/6 in the demo and 8.4 million total viewers. The network's new series "Pan Am" closed out the night on a grim note, dropping 27 percent versus last week for a 1.9/5 and 6.4 million total viewers.
CBS' primetime roster began with NFL overrun at 7, which had a 6.9 rating/21 share in the demo and 20.9 million total viewers (which made it the night's most-watched bit of programming). "60 Minutes" followed at 7:30 with a 3.6/10 in the demo and 13.7 million total viewers, while "Amazing Race" at 8:30 took a 2.7/7 in the demo and 9.6 million total viewers. "The Good Wife" at 9:30 received a 2.2/5 in the demo with 9.8 million total viewers, while "CSI: Miami" finished the night with a 2.0/5 in the demo and 9.7 million total viewers.
Due to the rain postponement of ALCS Game 2 (which will take place today at 4 p.m. ET), Fox ran repeats throughout the evening.