Sunday’s Minnesota Vikings win was one for the record books: the NFL’s, surely — but also Fox and Nielsen’s.
The NFC playoff game’s host network demolished its broadcast competition yesterday when the New Orleans Saints road loss ran into primetime and went down to the absolute wire.
ABC finished a very distant second in the key 18-49 demographic, though its “Shark Tank” did reach a season high. CBS was No. 2 in total viewers.
Fox was first in ratings with a 6.3 in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic and in total viewers with an average of 19.6 million, according to preliminary numbers. At 7 p.m., the conclusion to one of the wildest games in National Football League history averaged a 10.5 rating and 34.5 million viewers. Due to the nature of live sports, however, those fast-national numbers — which are not adjusted for different time zones — are subject to change.
The rest of the night was nuts like that, but the Nielsen numbers need to be worked out further before we report that “The Simpsons” at 8 scored north of 30 million viewers — which is how things appear right now.
ABC was second in ratings with a 1.1 and third in viewers with 5.1 million. After a repeat, “America’s Funniest Home Videos” at 8 had a rounded 1.2 and 5.9 million viewers. At 9, “Shark Tank” got a 1.3 rating and 5.3 million viewers. A second episode at 10 dipped to a 1.2 and 4.7 million viewers.
CBS was third in ratings with a 0.8 and second in viewers with 7.4 million. At 7, “60 Minutes” received a 0.9 rating and 7.6 million viewers. “Wisdom of the Crowd” at 8 had 0.8 and 5.9 million viewers. “NCIS: Los Angeles” at 9 got a 1.0 and 7.9 million viewers. At 10, “Madam Secretary” finished primetime to a 0.7 and 6.1 million viewers.
NBC was fourth in ratings with a 0.6 and in viewers with 3.4 million, airing all reruns.
The CW does not nationally program Sunday nights.