Primetime Ratings: ‘Sunday Night Football’ Falls on NBC

NBC won Sunday prime ratings, with Sunday Night Football leading the network to a 4.0 in viewers 18-49, per the Nielsen overnights, and a 17 share. That topped the 3.0/12 that Fox, also with football, posted.

NBC had Football Night in America at 1.6 and the pregame at 4.2. The game, Colts over Chiefs in a low-scoring encounter, got a 5.0. Last week’s game, Cowboys versus Saints, got a 6.7.

Fox had a Packers-Cowboys start to prime at 6.1 and The OT at 6.2. The Simpsons got a 2.6 with the football lift and Bless the Harts a 1.3 after its 0.7 opener a week ago. Bob’s Burgers grew 57% to 1.1 and Family Guy went up 29% to 0.9.

Among the non-football players in prime, ABC and CBS both did a 0.7/3.

ABC had America’s Funniest Home Videos down 25% to 0.6 and the premiere of Kids Say the Darndest Things at 0.9. Shark Tank did a flat 0.7 and The Rookie fell 14% to 0.6.

On CBS, 60 Minutes scored a 0.9, way down from when it had an NFL lead-in a week ago. God Friended Me slid 30% to 0.7, NCIS: Los Angeles dropped 13% to 0.7 and the premiere of Madam Secretary posted a 0.4.

Telemundo averaged a 0.4/2 and Univision a 0.3/1. On Telemundo, three hours of Exatlon Estados Unidos lost a tenth for a 0.4 and El Secreto de Selena tallied a level 0.3.

On Univision, Aqui Y Ahora got a flat 0.3 and Reina de la Cancion was up a tenth to 0.4, then Cronicas rated a level 0.3.

The CW also did a 0.3/1 as its fall season was unfurled. Batwoman opened at 0.5 and Supergirl at 0.4. Supergirl started last year at 0.5. 

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.