TV Ratings: ‘Once Upon a Time’ rises, but NBC and CBS’ NFL coverage dominates Sunday

Fast National ratings for Sunday, October 21, 2012.
ABC was the only network unimpacted by live sporting events on Sunday night and saw growth for all of its dramas, but primetime was dominated by NBC’s Sunday Night Football game and by CBS’ early evening NFL overrun.
Sunday’s third big sporting event was FOX’s National League Championship Series Game 6, which couldn’t lift the network out of fourth.
For the night, NBC averaged a 4.8 rating among adults 18-49, beating the 3.8 rating for CBS in the key demographic. ABC was third with a 2.3 key demo rating, followed by the 1.6 rating for FOX.
Overall, though, CBS averaged an estimated 14.485 million viewers and a 9.2 rating/14 share for Sunday night, beating the 12.78 million viewers and 7.8/12 for NBC. ABC was third with a 4.5/7 and 7.3 million viewers, topping the 3.5/5 and 5.66 million viewers for FOX.
7 p.m. – NFL overrun, largely overtime between the Patriots and Jets, let CBS win the 7 p.m. hour with 23.77 million viewers and a 7.6 rating among adults 18-49. NBC’s “Football Night in America” averaged 5.94 million viewers and a 1.9 key demo rating, edging out the 5.93 million viewers and 1.3 key demo rating for ABC’s “America’s Funniest Home Videos.” Baseball pregame averaged 5 million viewers and a 1.5 key demo rating on FOX.
8 p.m. – CBS’ “60 Minutes” averaged 14.815 million viewers to win the 8 p.m. hour and a 3.5 key demo rating for second. NBC’s game between the Steelers and Bengals averaged 14.005 million viewers and won the hour with a 5.2 rating among adults 18-49. ABC’s “Once Upon a Time” averaged 9.71 million viewers and a 3.3 key demo rating for a strong third. The NLCS game between the Giants and Cardinals was fourth with 6.15 million viewers and a 1.7 key demo rating.
9 p.m. – The Steelers and Bengals averaged 16.1 million viewers and a 6.1 rating among adults 18-49 for NBC in the 9 p.m. hour (well below last week’s game, though Sunday Night Football fluctuation is normal). CBS’ “The Amazing Race” was second overall with 9.39 million viewers and third with a 2.3 key demo rating. ABC’s “Revenge” averaged 8.65 million viewers and a 2.8 key demo rating, both up from last week. On FOX, the baseball game averaged 5.83 million viewers and a 1.7 key demo rating.
10 p.m. – NBC’s football coverage closed primetime with 15.06 million viewers and a 6.0 rating among adults 18-49. CBS’ “The Good Wife” averaged 9.97 million viewers and a 1.9 key demo rating in second. ABC’s “666 Park Avenue” rose to a still-unimpressive 4.93 million viewers and a 1.8 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.
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