Sorry, Fox — this Sunday was CBS’ turn to kick primetime off with a little late-afternoon pigskin. As a result, the two networks swapped spots from last week in Nielsen’s rankings, with “The Simpsons” sinking and “60 Minutes” moving on up.
Of course, the only thing better than leading-in to the key day part with an NFL game is having the only actual primetime one, for which NBC pays handsomely. The top broadcaster reaped the rewards again last night.
NBC was first in ratings with a 4.2 rating/15 share in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic and in total viewers with an average of 12.5 million, according to preliminary numbers. Due to the nature of live sports, those fast national stats should be considered preliminary.
CBS was second in ratings with a 1.9/7 and in viewers with 10.6 million. After the conclusion to the Pittsburgh Steelers versus Kansas City Chiefs, “60 Minutes” at 7:30 p.m. averaged a 2.2 and 12.8 million viewers. At 8:30, “Wisdom of the Crowd” had a 1.2 and 8.3 million viewers. “NCIS: Los Angeles” at 9:30 got a 1.1 and 8.4 million viewers. The half-hour of “Madam Secretary” that fit into the end of primetime received a 0.8 and 6.1 million viewers.
Fox was third in ratings with a 1.0/4 and fourth in viewers with 2.5 million. Following a rerun, “Bob’s Burgers” at 7:30 had a 1.1/4 and 2.5 million viewers. At 8, “The Simpsons” got a 1.3/5 and 2.9 million viewers. “Ghosted” at 8:30 received a 1.0/3 and 2.4 million viewers. At 9, “Family Guy” landed a 1.2/4 and 2.5 million viewers. “The Last Man on Earth” at 9:30 closed Fox’s abbreviated primetime to a 0.8/3 and 1.9 million viewers.
ABC was fourth in ratings with a 0.7/2 and third in viewers with 3.5 million. “The Toy Box” at 7 settled for a 0.4/1 and 2.3 million viewers. At 8, “America’s Funniest Home Videos” had a 0.8/3 and 4.4 million viewers. “Shark Tank” at 9 got a 1.1/3 and 4.7 million viewers. At 10, “Ten Days in the Valley” managed a 0.4/2 and 2.6 million viewers.
Univision was fifth in ratings with a 0.5/2 and in viewers with 1.6 million.
Telemundo was sixth in ratings with a 0.3/1 and in viewers with 913,000.
The CW does not program nationally on Sunday nights.