NBC won the night Sunday on the strength of an NFL preseason game between the Dallas Cowboys and San Diego Chargers, but the game barely outscored an episode of CBS's "Big Brother," according to preliminary ratings that were likely to change.
The game, from 8:30-11 p.m., won a 3.4/9 in the coveted 18-49 demographic and and 9.6 million total viewers. The pregame show at 8 had a 2.9/9 and 9.3 million total viewers. At 7, "Dateline" had a 1.5/5 and 6.8 million viewers.
On CBS, "60 Minutes" had a 1.4/5 and 8.5 million total viewers at 7. At 8, "Big Brother" earned a 3.3/10 and 8.8 million total viewers, good enough for CBS to be the second-ranked network of the night. Its other shows were repeats.
CBS's numbers were likely inflated by NFL season preemptions, and NBC's numbers were approximate due to the nature of tracking live sports viewership.
ABC ran repeats except for the special "Sunday 20/20: The Sixth Sense," which netted a 1.4/4 and 5.9 million total viewers from 9-11. ABC touted it as its top Sunday summer debut in more than seven years.
Fox ran repeats except for a new "In the Flow With Affion Crockett" at 9:30, which had a 1.2/3 and 2.5 million total viewers. It was up 20 percent over its debut last week.
