Fast National ratings for Sunday, January 1, 2012.
NBC is the television ratings king of 2012.
The perpetually struggling network started the new year in dominant form with a rivalry-tinged Sunday Night Football game between the Giants and Cowboys, a showdown that just happened to have playoff implications to boot.
Among adults 18-49, NBC averaged a 7.0 rating for Sunday night, far ahead of second place CBS’ football-boosted 2.3 rating. FOX’s 1.6 rating and the 1.1 rating for ABC followed in the key demographic.
Overall, CBS averaged an estimated 20.18 million viewers and an 11.5 rating/18 share, far ahead of CBS’ 6.6 rating/11 share and 10.78 million viewers. FOX averaged 3.90 million viewers and a 2.3/4 for third, just ahead of ABC’s 3.80 million viewers for Sunday night primetime.
7 p.m. – NFL overrun and “60 Minutes” averaged 20.42 million viewers and a 5.3 rating among adults 18-49 for CBS in the 7 p.m. hour. NBC’s “Football Night in America” was second for the hour with 9.57 million viewers and a 3.1 key demo rating. FOX’s NFL postgame was third with 5.22 million viewers and a 1.8 key demo rating, beating the 3.35 million viewers and 0.8 key demo rating for ABC’s “Once Upon a Time” repeat.
8 p.m. – The start of the Dallas-New York football game pushed NBC into first for the 8 p.m. hour with 22.33 million viewers and a 7.6 rating among adults 18-49. CBS’ “60 Minutes” and a repeat of “Unforgettable” averaged 10.01 million viewers and a 1.9 key demo rating for second. Another “Once Upon a Time” repeat averaged 4.12 million viewers for third overall and a 1.1 key demo rating for fourth. On FOX, repeats of “The Simpsons” and “The Cleveland Show” averaged 3.22 million viewers and a 1.4 key demo rating.
9 p.m. – The Cowboys and Giants went up to 25.62 million viewers and an 8.9 key demo rating for NBC in the 9 p.m. hour. CBS’ repeats of “Unforgettable” and “The Good Wife” averaged 6.55 million viewers and a 1.1 rating among adults 18-49. Yet another repeat of “Once Upon a Time” drew 3.93 million viewers and a 1.1 key demo rating for ABC, while repeats of “Family Guy” and “American Dad” averaged 3.27 million viewers and a 1.6 key demo rating.
10 p.m. – NBC’s football game closed Sunday primetime with 23.19 million viewers and an 8.6 rating among adults 18-49. CBS’ “The Good Wife” and “CSI: Miami” repeats averaged 6.12 million viewers for second and a 1.1 key demo rating for third. ABC capped its “Once Upon a Time” marathon with 3.80 million viewers 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.