Two weeks after its series premiere, ABC's fairytale drama "Once Upon a Time" continued to perform strongly Sunday night, while NBC scored an overall ratings win due, as usual, to "Sunday Night Football," according to preliminary numbers.
Though skewed by local NFL overrun until 7:30 p.m., through about 13 percent of the country, CBS appears to have suffered a series of losses Sunday night, starting with "60 Minutes" at 7, which tumbled 46 percent from last week — which, in fairness, had gotten an 83 percent bump thanks to its interviews with the family of convicted swindler Bernie Madoff.
Sunday's episode, which featured a tribute to correspondent Andy Rooney, who died last week, posted a 2.2 rating/6 share in the adults 18-49 demographic, with 13.7 million total viewers. "The Amazing Race" also took a hit, though not as dramatically, dropping 13 percent to a 2.6/6 in the demo and 9.9 million total viewers.
The network hit a bright spot with "The Good Wife" at 9, which inched up 5 percent for a 2.1/5 in the demo and 8.9 million total viewers, while "CSI: Miami" closed out the night with another decrease, hitting a series low with a 1.9/5 in the demo and 8.5 million total viewers. (It's worth noting that CBS' primetime slate started a half hour late last week, due to NFL overrun.)
Fox had the highest-rated time slot Sunday night, with football overrun from the New York Giants/New England Patriots game at 7, which posted a 9.6/25 in the demo and 25.9 million total viewers (which also made it the most-watched programming of the night, though the numbers are approximate due to the nature of live sports). The postgame show "The O.T." followed at 7:30, scoring a 6.4/16 in the demo — which is, again, approximate — and 16.4 million total viewers.
That was the end of the good news for the network, with its block of animated series suffering modest to significant decreases. "The Simpsons" at 8 was down 8 percent from last week's "Treehouse of Horror" episode, taking a 3.7/9 in the demo and 7.9 million total viewers. The new Jonah Hill series "Allen Gregory" at 8:30, which had a soft series premiere last week, slipped 13 percent for a 2.1/5 in the demo and 4.3 million total viewers.
"Family Guy" followed at 9, dropping 6 percent for a 3.0/7 in the demo and 5.7 million total viewers, while "American Dad" rounded out the night with a loss, dropping 7 percent from its last original airing five weeks ago to a 2.5/6 in the demo and 4.7 million total viewers.
NBC's night kicked off with three continuous installments of "Football Night in America," the first of which at 7 scored a 2.0/5 in the demo and 6.2 million total viewers. The 7:30 installment drew a 3.4/8 in the demo with 9.4 million total viewers, while the third episode at 8 grabbed a 6.1/14 in the demo and 16.6 million total viewers. The Baltimore Ravens/Pittsburgh Steelers game followed from 8:30 to 11, pulling a 7.9/18 in the demo and 19.6 million total viewers. The network averaged a 6.3/15 in the demo for the night's highest overall rating, and 16.3 million total viewers, which also made it the most-watched network of the night.
ABC's night began with a "Once Upon a Time" repeat at 7, followed by a new episode at 8, which saw a slight 5 percent downturn from last week with a 3.7/9 in the demo and 11.3 million total viewers. "Desperate Housewives" at 9 dropped 10 percent, taking a 2.8/6 in the demo and 8.6 million total viewers, while "Pan Am" ran flat with last week, tying its series low with a 1.8/4 in the demo and 5.2 million total viewers.
