Primetime Ratings: Football Bests Baseball, NBC Wins the Night

It was fourth-and-inches close, but Sunday Night Football on NBC beat the World Series finale on Fox. According to Nielsen’s overnights, NBC put up a 5.9 rating in viewers 18-49, including the pregame, along with a 16 share. Last week’s telecast scored a 5.6/16.

Baseball on Fox had a 5.8, and a 16 share too.

Sunday Night Football had a marquee matchup in the Green Bay Packers versus the Denver Broncos; NBC said it averaged 23 million viewers, per Nielsen's fast nationals. The World Series wrapped up with an extra inning encounter between the champion Kansas City Royals and the New York Mets. The telecast pulled in 17.2 million total viewers, which Fox said was the highest Game 5 viewership since 2003. The previous night, Game 4 drew 13.6 million viewers.

ABC and CBS split the rest of the viewers, both with a 1.1/3 for the night.

ABC’s originals suffered from the high wattage sports. It had America’s Funniest Home Videos at a 1.0, down 9% from last week, then Once Upon a Time with a 1.5, down 6%. Blood & Oil registered a 0.8, off 11%, before Quantico posted a 1.2, off a steep 20%.

Following an NFL overrun, CBS’ 60 Minutes scored a 1.5, up 15% from last week, then Madam Secretary a 1.1, off 15% from a week ago. The Good Wife had a 0.9, down 10%, and CSI: Cyber a flat 0.8.

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.