Football tops Sunday ratings action
Patriots-Steelers game makes CBS a winner
According to preliminary nationals from Nielsen, the concluding 20 minutes or so of the Patriots' 34-13 victory over the Steelers is expected to generate nearly a 10 rating in adults 18-49 when nationals are released Tuesday. The nice push at the outset of primetime lifted "60 Minutes" (roughly 4.3 rating/11 share in 18-49, 15.9 million viewers overall) and "The Amazing Race" (3.8/9 in 18-49, 11.9 million viewers overall) to above-average scores. "Cold Case" then clocked in with about a 3.0/7 in 18-49 and 11.2 million viewers overall, followed by "Shark" (2.4/7 in 18-49, 9.5 million viewers overall).
At NBC, its "Sunday Night Football" matchup between the Indianapolis Colts and Baltimore Ravens wasn't very competitive from the start, with Indianapolis jumping out to a 30-0 lead midway through the second quarter. Still, the game is expected to come in with about a 5 rating in 18-49 and nearly 13 million viewers overall, making it the top-rated show of primetime in the demo.
ABC was paced by "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" (4.4/10 in 18-49, 12.8 million viewers overall) and original movie "Oprah Winfrey Presents: Mitch Albom's For One More Day" (3.2/8 in 18-49, 12.5 million viewers overall). Latter becomes the most-watched movie on television this fall, and is the No. 2-rated original movie on television in the 18-49 demo during the past 20 months -- trailing only Disney Channel's "High School Musical 2" last August.
Fox was paced by repeats of "Family Guy" (3.9/9 in 18-49, 7.8 million viewers overall) and "The Simpsons" (3.5/8 in 18-49, 7.6 million viewers overall) and a firstrun episode of "King of the Hill" (3.1/7 in 18-49, 6.5 million viewers overall).
Preliminary 18-49 averages for the night: CBS and NBC (7:30-11 p.m.), 4.1/10; ABC, 3.3/8; Fox, 2.9/7; Univision, 1.0/2; CW, 0.5/1.
In total viewers: CBS, 13.9 million; ABC, 11.8 million; NBC (7:30-11 p.m.), 10.6 million; Fox, 6.2 million; Univision, 2.5 million; CW, 1.3 million.
