Fast National ratings for Sunday, October 5, 2014.
NBC's Sunday Night Football matchup between the Bengals and Patriots dominated primetime in all measures, though it was down from last week's tilt between the Saints and Cowboys.
While down from last week, NBC wants you to know this was the best-ever Sunday Night Football telecast for a game featuring the Bengals.
Sunday's big debuts were a disastrous premiere for FOX's “Mulaney” and a “Bob's Burgers” premiere that wouldn't look good except that we can compare it to the launch for “Mulaney.”
A number of shows dipped dramatically in their second weeks, with ABC's “Resurrection” failing to maintain the momentum for the new season of “Once Upon a Time” and CBS' “CSI” mothership looking very much like a drama on its last legs.
Note that CBS had some limited NFL delays in addition to its regularly scheduled half-hour delay on programming for the right side of the country.
On to the numbers…
Among adults 18-49, NBC averaged a 5.5 rating for Sunday night, tops in the key demographic. CBS was a distant second with a 2.2 key demo rating, followed by ABC's 1.7 and FOX's 1.6 key demo rating for Sunday.
Overall, NBC averaged an estimated 14.97 million viewers and a 9.1 rating/15 share for Sunday primetime, comfortably beating the 12.34 million viewers and 7.9/13 for CBS. There was a big drop to 5.73 million viewers and a 3.5/6 and then to FOX's 2.1/3 and 3.49 million viewers.
7 p.m. – NFL overrun and “60 Minutes” led the 7 p.m. hour for CBS with 15.43 million viewers and a 3.9 rating among adults 18-49, topping the 8.09 million viewers and 2.7 key demo rating for NBC's “Football Night in America.” [The estimate for “60 Minutes” alone is 14.28 million viewers and a 2.5 key demo.] FOX followed with a repeat of “The Simpsons” (4.12 million and a 1.5 key demo) and the premiere of “Bob's Burgers” (3.16 million and a 1.4 key demo). ABC's “Once Upon a Time” encore averaged 3.29 million viewers and a 0.8 key demo rating.
8 p.m. – The start of Sunday Night Football won the 8 p.m. hour for NBC with 16.385 million viewers and a 5.9 rating among adults 18-49. CBS' “60 Minutes” and “Madam Secretary” averaged 13.22 million viewers for second and a 1.9 key demo rating for third. [The estimate for “Madam Secretary” alone is 12.18 million and a 1.7 key demo.] ABC's “Once Upon a Time” was third with 8.6 million viewers and second with a 3.1 key demo rating. FOX trailed with “The Simpsons” (4.32 million and a 2.0 key demo) and “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” (3.305 million and a 1.6 key demo.
9 p.m. – NBC's football game won the 9 p.m. hour with 19.48 million viewers and a 7.2 rating among adults 18-49. CBS' “Madam Secretary” and “The Good Wife” finished second with 11.69 million viewers and finished third with a 1.5 key demo rating. [The estimate for “The Good Wife” alone is 10.5 million and a 1.4 key demo rating.] ABC's “Resurrection” averaged 6.15 million viewers and a 1.8 key demo rating. FOX's “Family Guy” (3.68 million and a 1.9 key demo) came back down to Earth after last week's huge premiere and “Mulaney” (2.34 million and a 1.0 key demo) couldn't really retain.
10 p.m. – The Bengals-Patriots game averaged 15.91 million viewers and a 6.4 rating among adults 18-49 for NBC in the 10 p.m. hour. ABC's “Revenge” averaged 4.89 million viewers and a 1.3 key demo rating, compared to the 9.01 million and 1.2 key demo rating for CBS' “Good Wife” and “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.” [The estimate for “CSI” alone was 8.09 million and a 1.2 key demo rating.]
All ratings information comes from preliminary Fast National Nielsen data, which includes live and same-day DVR viewing. All numbers are subject to change, particularly in the case of live events.