The end of the AFC Wild Card playoff between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos delivered an easy win for CBS last night. Metered market ratings give the 7:00 p.m. broadcast of the game a whopping 14.8 rating among adults 18-49, pushing the net to a nightly average of a 7.1 in the demo.
About 12 minutes of football runover gives the network less clear early numbers, with the final moments of the game and 60 Minutes averaging a 7.9 among adults 18-49 at 8:00, The Good Wife delivering a 3.0 at 9:00, and CSI: Miami bringing in a 2.7 at 10:00. Fast affiliate numbers also give CBS an audience of 22.6 million for the night.
Second place ABC saw the successful return of Once Upon a Time. The freshman series, strong out of the gate before faltering a bit in December, rebounded 28 percent for a 3.7 among adults 18-49. With America’s Funniest Home Videos (1.4), Desperate Housewives (3.0) and Pan Am (1.3) in the mix, the net averaged a 2.3 for the night and 7.3 million viewers.
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Fox came in third, with an hour of animation repeats followed by new episodes of The Simpsons, The Cleveland Show, Family Guy and American Dad. It average a 1.9 rating among adults 18-49 and 4 million viewers.
The Firm premiere on NBC to less than desirable numbers. The two-hour premiere averaged a 1.4 among adults 18-49 during its 9:00-11:00 p.m. broadcast. That’s almost half the audience of last year’s post-Sunday Night Football filler, The Cape. With a lead-in from Dateline, NBC averaged a 1.3 rating in the demo and 6.3 million viewers.
Sunday, Jan. 8, Preliminary Overnight Ratings:
7 p.m.
CBS: Steelers/Broncos AFC Wild Card playoff game (41.9 million viewers, 14.8 rating among adults 18-49)
ABC: America’s Funniest Home Videos (5.8 million, 1.4)
NBC: Dateline (5 million, 0.9)
Fox: Bob’s Burgers (R) (1.8 million, 0.7)
7:30 p.m.
Fox: The Cleveland Show (R) (2.3 million, 0.9)
8 p.m.
CBS: Football overun/60 Minutes (25.2 million, 7.9)
ABC: Once Upon a Time (10.3 million, 3.7)
Fox: The Simpsons (5.1 million, 2.3)
NBC: Dateline (7.4 million, 1.5)
8:30 p.m.
Fox: The Cleveland Show (4.4 million, 2.1)
9 p.m.
CBS: The Good Wife (12.7 million, 3.0)
ABC: Desperate Housewives (8.8 million, 3.0)
Fox: Family Guy (6.0 million, 3.0)
NBC: The Firm (series premiere) (6.8 million, 1.5)
9:30 p.m.
Fox: American Dad (4.6 million, 2.1)
10 p.m.
CBS: CSI: Miami (10.8 million, 2.7)
NBC: The Firm (series premiere) (5.8 million, 1.3)
ABC: Pan Am (4.0 million, 1.3)
