NBC dominate Sunday night with the Hall of Fame Game, the annual kickoff to the pro football preseason — but it was down 26 percent from last year’s game.
The drop was not wholly unexpected, as the league’s top-drawing Dallas Cowboys participated in 2013. NBC was first in ratings with a 2.2 rating/8 share in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic and first in viewers with an average of 6.7 million, according to preliminary numbers. The numbers are subject to change as more data becomes available, due to the nature of tracking live sports.
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At 7 p.m., a special airing of “Wrestlemania 30” received a 1.2/5 and 3.9 million viewers. The New York Giants vs. Buffalo Bills preseason game at 8 earned a night-high 2.5/8 and had 7.6 million viewers. The latter didn’t match the audience for CBS’ “60 Minutes” encore.
CBS was second in ratings with a 1.1/4 and in viewers with 6.2 million. “Big Brother” at 8 slipped 14 percent to a 1.9/7 and had 6.7 million viewers. At 9, “Unforgettable” received a 1.0/3 and 5.8 million viewers. At 10, “Reckless” had a 0.6/2 and 4.4 million viewers.
ABC and Fox tied for third in ratings, both with a 0.9/3. ABC was third in viewers with 3.9 million. Fox was fourth with 2 million and aired entirely repeats.
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Following a rerun, ABC’s “Wipeout” at 8 had a 0.9/3 and 3.7 million viewers. “Rising Star” at 9 had a 0.9/3 and 3.5 million viewers.
Univision was fifth in ratings with a 0.7/2 and in total viewers with 1.8 million.
Telemundo was sixth in ratings with a 0.4/2 and in total viewers with 988,000.