'Survivor' finale a winner

CBS show a strong performer

By RICK KISSELL

The two-hour conclusion of "Survivor: China" and the one-hour reunion show was a strong performer for CBS on Sunday, a night when football helped Fox and NBC also score hearty numbers.

According to preliminary nationals from Nielsen, "Survivor" averaged a 5.2 rating/12 share in adults 18-49 and 15.1 million viewers overall from 8 to 10 p.m., winning its time period despite dipping a bit from the finale of last fall's "Survivor" season. Net then placed second in the night's closing hour with the live reunion show (4.5/11 in 18-49, 12.2 million viewers overall).

Fox will win the night in demos thanks to football, with the conclusion of the NFL game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys and the following postgame show expected to average nearly an 8 rating in 18-49 from 7 to 8 o'clock. The net then won the 8 o'clock half-hour in many key demos with an original episode of "The Simpsons" (4.8/12 in 18-49, 10.1 million viewers overall) before dipping off at 8:30 with "King of the Hill" (4.2/10 in 18-49, 8.5 million viewers overall). A repeat of "Family Guy" held up well at 9 (4.2/10 in 18-49, 8.5 million viewers overall), but the net again saw a dropoff on the half-hour with an original episode of "American Dad" (3.5/8 in 18-49, 7.2 million viewers overall).

NBC's "Sunday Night Football" matchup between the Washington Redskins and New York Giants should come in with about a 5.3 rating in 18-49 and more than 14 million viewers overall, winning the 10 o'clock hour but coming in on the low end of the package's ratings range.

ABC was solid with "America's Funniest Home Videos" (2.7/7 in 18-49, 8.8 million viewers overall) and "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" (4.2/10 in 18-49, 11.8 million viewers overall) but didn't do much with repeats of "Desperate Housewives" (2.4/6 in 18-49, 7.5 million viewers overall) and "Brothers & Sisters" (1.7/4 in 18-49, 5.4 million viewers overall).

Preliminary 18-49 averages for the night: Fox, 4.9/12; CBS and NBC (7:30-11 p.m.), 4.3/11; ABC, 2.7/7; Univision, 1.3/3; CW, 0.5/1.

In total viewers: CBS, 14.0 million; NBC, 12.0 million; Fox, 11.2 million; ABC, 8.4 million; Univision, 3.0 million; CW, 1.2 million.