Fast National ratings for Sunday, September 29, 2013.
NBC’s Sunday Night Football game between New England and Atlanta easily drew the highest ratings on a Premiere Week Sunday driven by delays and preemptions.
As will frequently be the case throughout the fall, in addition to NBC’s ratings being subject to change due to football, CBS’ ratings are also inflated by 15 minutes of NFL overrun, pushing “60 Minutes” and the rest of the schedule for much of the country. And even with that boost, CBS’ “Amazing Race,” “The Good Wife” and “The Mentalist” came in on the low side. FOX’s ratings also were inflated by long-running football.
Ultimately, in fact, the only network with numbers unimpacted by football was ABC, which got OK — better than spring numbers, but worse than last fall’s premieres — returns for “Once Upon a Time” and “Revenge,” though “Betrayal” launched to much smaller returns than such recent Sunday luminaries as “Pan Am” and “666 Park Avenue.”
[Ratings for the “Breaking Bad” finale and also for the “Homeland” and “Masters of Sex” premieres will be out this afternoon and we’ll report on them when they’re available.]
On to the numbers…
Among adults 18-49, NBC averaged a 5.6 rating for Sunday night, easily winning the key demographic. FOX’s 3.3 key demo rating and the 2.0 key demo rating for ABC followed, while CBS trailed with a 1.6 key demo rating.
Overall, NBC averaged an estimated 15.35 million viewers and a 9.4 rating/15 share for Sunday, winning primetime comfortable. CBS was second with 9.45 million viewers and a 6.1/10, fell ahead of FOX’s 4.9/8 and 8.06 million viewers. ABC trailed overall with a 4.1/6 and 6.71 million viewers.
7 p.m. – FOX’s NFL overrun won the 7 p.m. hour with 14.07 million viewers and a 5.1 rating among adults 18-49. CBS’ NFL overrun and “60 Minutes” finished second with 10.385 million viewers and third with a 1.4 key demo rating. “Football Night in America” was third overall with 7.73 million viewers for NBC, coming in second with a 2.8 key demo rating. A “Once Upon a Time” recap special was fourth with 5.07 million viewers and a 1.3 key demo rating for ABC.
8 p.m. – NBC won the 8 p.m. hour easily with 18.01 million viewers and a 6.3 rating among adults 18-49 for the start of the Patriots-Falcons game. CBS was second overall and fourth in the key demo with 8.78 million viewers and a 2.0 key demo rating for “60 Minutes” and “The Amazing Race.” ABC’s “Once Upon a Time” premiere was a close third with 8.45 million viewers and second with a 2.6 key demo rating. FOX was fourth overall and third in the key demo with football-inflated premieres for “The Simpsons” (6.29 million and a 2.8 key demo) and “Bob’s Burgers” (4.41 million viewers and a 2.1 key demo).
9 p.m. – Sunday Night Football was up to 18.86 million viewers and a 6.7 rating among adults 18-49 for NBC in the 9 p.m. hour. CBS’ “The Amazing Race” and “The Good Wife” was second overall with 8.93 million and fourth with a 1.5 key demo rating. ABC’s “Revenge” was third overall with 8.04 million viewers and tied for second with a 2.4 key demo rating. FOX was fourth overall and also tied for third in the key demo with premieres for “Family Guy” (5.25 million and a 2.6 key demo) and “American Dad” (4.28 million and a 2.1 key demo).
10 p.m. – NBC closed primetime in first with 16.79 million viewers and a 6.5 rating among adults 18-49 for football. CBS’ “The Good Wife” and “The Mentalist” averaged 9.72 million viewers and a 1.6 key demo rating, beating the 5.29 million viewers and 1.5 key demo rating for the series premiere of “Betrayal” on ABC.
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.