A roughly 75-minute NFL playoff overrun (Jets-Raiders) has boosted CBS to a dominant victory on Sunday, according to preliminary nationals from Nielsen, with the net also receiving a season-high score from "60 Minutes" (roughly 18.5 million viewers, 5.4/12 in adults 18-49) and a solid delivery from the "29th Annual People's Choice Awards" (14.8 million, 5.6/14 in adults 18-49).
"People's Choice," on par with last year's delivery, won the 9-11 p.m. timeslot by 3 shares in adults 18-49 over NBC's combo of "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" (5.5/12 in A18-49, 16.3 million viewers overall) and "Boomtown" (4.0/11 in A18-49, 11.4 million). If these numbers hold up, this will be the strongest regular-slot perf to date for the second-year "Law & Order: CI" - up 25% vs. the same night a year ago.
Fox ran third in adults 18-49, led by "The Simpsons" (6.1/14) and "King of the Hill" (5.3/12), while ABC was fourth, paced by "Alias" (4.4/10).
Preliminary 18-49 averages for the night: CBS, 7.5/18; Fox, 4.1/10; NBC, 3.9/9; ABC, 3.2/8.
In total viewers: CBS, 20.3 million; NBC, 12.1 million; Fox, 8.9 million; ABC, 8.8 million.
Contact Rick Kissell at
rick.kissell@variety.com