Ratings: ‘Sunday Night Football’ Drops Double-Digits, But NBC Still Doubles CBS’s Demo

Runner-up CBS comes a little closer in total viewers with its NFL overrun

Seattle Seahawks

Sunday night would have gone to football anyway, but the gridiron game didn’t have much primetime competition last night.

NBC topped the key 18-49 demographic and total viewers with NFL coverage, while second-place CBS’s timeslots are all initially messed up due to its own pigskin overrun. ABC aired only a “Sound of Music Sing-A-Long,” while Fox ran reruns after pro football.

Due to the nature of live sports, numbers for NBC, CBS and Fox are subject to change. But for now, NBC doubled No. 2 CBS in the demo, despite “Sunday Night Football” being down 32 percent from last week’s fast national numbers.

NBC was first in ratings with a 4.4 rating/14 share in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic and first in viewers with an average of 14 million, according to preliminary numbers. Part 1 of “Football Night in America” at 7 p.m. had a 2.1/7 and 7.9 million viewers. Part 2 at 7:30 got a 3.1/10 and 10.6 million viewers. Part 3 at 8 received a 4.4/14 and 14 million viewers. The game itself at 8:30 scored a night-high 5.2/16 — down from last week’s initial 7.7/21 — and had 15.9 million viewers.

CBS was second in ratings with a 2.2/7 and in viewers with 11.1 million. A football overrun at 7 earned a 4.7/16 and a primetime-best 17.6 million viewers. At 7:30, the overrun ran into “60 Minutes,” which combined for a 3.5/11 and 15.3 million viewers. At 8, “60 Minutes” got a 2.2/7 and 12.7 million viewers. At 8:30, the conclusion of the news magazine show ran into “Undercover Boss,” netting a 1.6/5 and 9.9 million viewers for the half-hour. In the 9 o’clock 30-minute timeslot, “Undercover Boss” got a 1.4/4 and 8.5 million viewers. The conclusion of the reality show ran into “The Mentalist” at 9:30, combining for a 1.4/4 and 8.8 million viewers. “The Mentalist” continued at 10 to a 1.3/4 and 8.4 million viewers. At 10:30, “The Mentalist” ran into “CSI,” which received a 1.3/4 and 7.9 million viewers.

ABC was third in ratings with a 1.2/4 and in viewers with 5.6 million. The “Sound of Music “Sing-A-Long” began at 7.

Fox was fourth in ratings with a 1.1/3 and in viewers with 2.6 million. An NFL overrun at 7 ran into “Mulaney,” netting a 1.2/4 and 3.7 million viewers. Repeats followed.

Telemundo was fifth in ratings with a 0.6/2 and sixth in total viewers with 1.4 million.

Univision was sixth in ratings with a 0.5/2 and in total viewers with 1.5 million.

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