The season premiere of "Sunday Night Football" handed NBC a big win on Sunday night, while CBS' "Big Brother" managed to increase despite the competition from football, according to preliminary numbers.
While the nature of live sports renders NBC's numbers approximate, the network currently holds a commanding lead in the advertiser-friendly 18-49 demographic with a 7.8 rating/21 share and in total viewers with 20.1 million.
Following three installments of "Football Night in America" from 7 to 8:30 p.m. — which scored a 2.6/8, 3.5/10 and 7.8/21, respectively — the Pittsburgh Steelers/Denver Broncos game at 8:30 showed a slight increase over last year's "Sunday Night Football" premiere, posting a 9.8/25 and drawing 25 million total viewers.
Fox drew second place in ratings and total viewers with a 4.1 rating/ and 9.6 million. NFL overrun at 7 posted a 7.5/22 and 16.5 million total viewers, while additional football overrun combined with a "Simpson" repeat at 8 drew 3.1/8 and attracted 7.3 million.
CBS came in third in ratings and total viewers with a 1.5/4 and 7.2 million. The U.S. Open at 7 drew a 1.8/5 with 9 million total viewers. "60 Minutes" at 7:30 grabbed a 2.1/6 with 11.4 million total viewers. "Big Brother" at 9:30 enjoyed an 11 percent bump from the previous week, posting a 2.1/6 and attracting 7 million million total viewers. Repeats of "The Good Wife" and "The Mentalist" followed.
Univision drew fourth place in ratings and total viewers with a 1.1/3 and 3 million.
ABC, which ran repeats throughout the night, took fifth in ratings and total viewers with a 0.7/2 and 2.8 million.
