NBC scored a commanding ratings victory on Sunday night, thanks to the “Sunday Night Football” faceoff between the New Orleans Saints and Dallas Cowboys. The season premiere of ABC’s “Once Upon A Time” improved dramatically over last season’s premiere and Fox’s “Simpsons-Family Guy” crossover episode drew big ratings, according to preliminary numbers.
While NBC’s numbers are subject to revision due to the nature of live sports, as it stands the network easily holds first place in ratings with a 6.1 rating/18 share in the 18-49 demographic most important to advertisers, and is also tops in total viewers with 16.2 million for the night. Following three installments of “Football Night in America,” “Sunday Night Football” at 8:30 drew a 7.6/21, by far the night’s best ratings, and 19.8 million total viewers.
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Fox, which also ran football Sunday night, was second in ratings and total viewers with a 4.9/14 and 11.8 million. NFL overrun at 7 p.m. drew a 7.3/24 with 20.7 million total viewers, making it the highest-rated half-hour of the evening, while further overrun followed by “The OT” at 7:30 posted a 6.8/21 with 19.1 million total viewers.
With a strong football lead-in, the season premiere of “The Simpsons” at 8 jumped 34 percent over last season premiere in the demo with a 3.9/11 and saw almost an identical jump in total viewers with 8.5 million. At 8:30, “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” premiered its season with a 2.6/7, even with last September’s season premiere, and drew 5.4 million total viewers. At 9, the season premiere of “Family Guy,” which featured a much-anticipated crossover with “The Simpsons,” had a 4.5/12, a 73 percent jump over last the last “Family Guy” season premiere, and had 8.4 million total viewers.
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ABC, which was third in ratings with a 2.1/6 and fourth in total viewers with 6.8 million, had its ups and downs for the night. Following a “Once Upon a Time” repeat at 8, which drew a 1.5/5 with 5.1 million total viewers, the “Once” season premiere at 8:30 posted a 3.4/10, up 31 percent from last season’s premiere, and had 9.3 million total viewers.
Alas, the season premiere of “Resurrection” at 9 fell sharply from last season’s premiere, sliding 42 percent to a 2.2/6 with 7.6 million total viewers while the season premiere of “Revenge” the following hour also dropped hard, dropping 39 percent from last season’s premiere for a series low of 1.4/4 with 5.3 million total viewers.
CBS took fourth place in ratings with a 1.3/4 and third in total viewers with 10.7 million. “60 Minutes” at 7 posted a 1.1/4 with 9.2 million total viewers, while the freshman drama “Madam Secretary” the following hour dropped off 30 percent from last week’s series premiere, posting a 1.4/4 with 12.7 million total viewers.
“The Good Wife” at 9 inched down from last week’s season premiere, posting a 1.3/4 with 11.2 million total viewers, while the season premiere of “CSI” the following hour was also down sharply, falling off 30 percent from last season’s premiere for a 1.4/4 — a series low — with 9.7 million total viewers.