Fast National ratings for Sunday, December 22, 2013.
The Eagles routed the Bears on Sunday Night Football and even though the game wasn’t one of the season’s higher rated showdowns, it topped last week’s Steelers-Bengals dud and helped NBC dominate Sunday in most measures.
Boosted by NFL overrun, CBS had a big night for “60 Minutes” and finished in a comfortable second place.
Meanwhile, ABC’s telecast of “The Sound of Music” drew only a third of the audience that watched NBC’s live Carrie Underwood musical earlier this month, but still finished third overall and rose from last year’s ABC broadcast.
On to the numbers…
Among adults 18-49, NBC averaged a 4.4 rating for Sunday night, easily winning the key demographic. CBS was second in the key demo with a 2.1 rating, followed by FOX’s 1.6 key demo rating and the 1.3 key demo rating for ABC.
Overall, NBC averaged an estimated 13.08 million viewers and a 7.9 rating/13 share for Sunday primetime, comfortably ahead of the 10.29 million viewers and 6.3/10 for CBS. There was a big drop to ABC in third with 6.51 million viewers and 3.9/7 and then to FOX’s 2.4/4 and 4 million viewers.
7 p.m. – CBS started primetime in first with 21.005 million viewers and a 5.3 rating among adults 18-49 for NFL overrun and the start of “60 Minutes.” NBC’s “Football Night in America” was second with 6.03 million viewers and tied for second with a 1.9 key demo rating. Inflated repeats of “Bob’s Burgers” and “American Dad” averaged 5.65 million viewers and a 1.9 key demo rating for FOX, while the first hour of ABC’s “The Sound of Music” averaged 4.53 million viewers and a 0.9 key demo rating.
8 p.m. – The start of the Sunday Night Football game drew 14.395 million viewers and a 4.8 rating among adults 18-49 for NBC in the 8 p.m. hour. CBS’ “60 Minutes” and a “Good Wife” repeat averaged 10.145 million viewers and a 1.8 key demo rating in second. ABC’s “The Sound of Music” rose to 6.61 million viewers for third and a 1.4 key demo rating in fourth. Two repeats of “The Simpsons” averaged 3.535 million viewers and a 1.6 key demo rating for FOX.
9 p.m. – The Bears and Eagles rose to 17.46 million viewers and a 5.9 rating among adults 18-49 to lead NBC in the 9 p.m. hour. ABC’s “Sound of Music” rose to 7.61 million viewers and a 1.6 key demo rating in second for the hour. CBS’ repeats of “The Good Wife” and “The Mentalist” averaged 5.07 million viewers for second and a 0.8 key demo rating for third, compared to the 2.8 million viewers and 1.3 key demo rating averaged by a “Family Guy” repeat and an “Animation Domination HD” showcase on FOX.
10 p.m. – NBC’s football game closed primetime in first with 14.42 million viewers and a 5.1 rating among adults 18-49. ABC’s “Sound of Music” closed with 7.27 million viewers and a 1.5 key demo rating in second, far ahead of the 4.93 million viewers and 0.7 key demo rating for CBS’ repeats of “The Mentalist” and “Elementary.”
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.