Fast National ratings for Sunday, September 23, 2012.
NBC’s Sunday Night Football coverage of a poorly officiated thriller between the Patriots and Ravens easily crushed ABC’s coverage of the 64th Primetime Emmys, as CBS’ NFL overrun pushed ABC to third for the night in early numbers.
Note that due to the live nature of the NFL coverage on three networks, as well as live coast-to-coast broadcast of the Emmys, these ratings are astoundingly imprecise. They may vaguely reflect time period date, but they don’t capture the specific ratings for the Emmys, Sunday Night Football or much of anything.
In early time period adjusted ratings (which you’ll see aren’t reflected in the unadjusted ratings), ABC is saying that the Emmys telecast averaged 13.2 million viewers and a 3.8 rating among adults 18-49, up by 6 percent in viewers over last year’s show.
For the night, NBC averaged a 6.2 rating among adults 18-49, beating CBS’ 2.9 rating and the 2.8 rating for ABC in the key demographic. FOX’s 1.5 key demo rating trailed.
Overall, NBC averaged an estimated 15.92 million viewers to go with a 9.9 rating/15 share, topping CBS’ 7.5/11 and 11.37 million viewers for Sunday night. ABC averaged 10.52 million viewers and a 6.9/11 for third, with FOX’s 2.0/3 and 3.38 million viewers trailing.
[Univision averaged 2.67 million viewers and a 1.0 rating among adults 18-49 for Sunday primetime.]
7 p.m. – CBS started primetime in first with 21.3 million viewers and a 6.8 rating among adults 18-49 for NFL overrun, which stretched into the 8 p.m. ET hour. ABC’s Emmys Red Carpet coverage was second overall with 7.28 million viewers and third with a 1.6 key demo rating, compared to the 7.03 million viewers and 2.4 key demo rating for NBC’s “Football Night in America.” FOX’s NFL overrun and a repeat of “The Cleveland Show” averaged 2.82 million viewers and a 1.1 key demo rating.
8 p.m. – The start of the Sunday Night Football game between New England and Baltimore averaged 17.5 million viewers and a 7.0 rating among adults 18-49 for NBC in the 8 p.m. hour. CBS’ NFL overrun and “60 Minutes” averaged 12.9 million viewers for second and a 3.0 key demo rating for third on the hour. ABC’s Emmys coverage average averaged 12.42 million viewers and a 3.5 key demo rating. On FOX, repeats of “The Simpsons” and “Bob’s Burgers” averaged 3.21 million viewers and a 1.4 key demo rating.
9 p.m. – NBC’s NFL coverage was up to 21 million viewers and an 8.1 rating among adults 18-49 to win the 9 p.m. hour. ABC moved up to second with 12.5 million viewers and a 3.6 key demo rating for the Emmys. CBS dropped to third overall with 5.98 million viewers for “60 Minutes” and a “Person of Interest” repeat, falling to fourth with a 1.0 key demo rating. FOX’s repeats of “Family Guy” finished third with a 1.8 key demo rating and came in fourth with 4.1 million viewers.
10 p.m. – The Patriots and Ravens game averaged 18.155 million viewers and a 7.4 rating among adults 18-49 for NBC in the 10 p.m. hour. ABC’s Emmys coverage dropped to 9.89 million viewers and a 2.7 key demo rating. On CBS’ repeats of “Person of Interest” and “the Good Wife” combined for 5.29 million viewers and a 1.0 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.