Primetime Ratings: ABC, CBS Run to First-Place Tie Sunday

NBC’s ‘The Storm’ movie premieres with 1.2/3 two-hour average

By David Tanklefsky -- Broadcasting & Cable, 7/27/2009 12:48:15 PM

CBS and ABC tied for the top spot in primetime ratings Sunday. CBS hit the night’s high-water mark with Big Brother in the 8 p.m. hour while ABC won at 7 and 9 with America’s Funniest Home Videos and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, respectively.  
 
Home Videos scored a 1.3/5 in the opening hour, followed by NBC’s Dateline (1.2/4). CBS earned a 1.0/4 for 60 Minutes and was first in viewers with 7.1 million. Reruns of Fox’s ‘Til Death (0.6/2) and American Dad (0.8/3) drew a 0.7/3. The CW was fifth at 0.1/1 for Easy Money.
 
Big Brother led the charge at 8 with a 1.9/6. A repeat of ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition was next at 1.4/4.  NBC earned a 1.1/3 for Merlin. Film Zoom delivered a 1.0/3 for Fox. The first hour of the movie Cutting Edge: Chasing the Dream earned a 0.2/1 for the CW.
 
A second hour of Extreme Makeover was first at 9 for ABC with a 1.6/5. The first installment of NBC’s two-part TV movie The Storm earned a 1.2/3.  CBS and Fox tied at 1.0/3. CBS aired a rerun of Cold Case while Fox countered with the second hour of Zoom. The CW was fifth at 0.3/1 for the second hour of Cutting Edge.
 
At 10 CBS and NBC tied at 1.1/3. CBS aired a rerun of Without a Trace. NBC aired the second hour of The Storm.  ABC’s Desperate Housewives (rerun) was third at 0.8/2.
 
For the night, CBS and ABC tied and led with a 1.3/4. CBS was first in viewers with 6.2 million. NBC was next with a 1.1/4.  Fox was fourth at 0.9/3. The CW finished fifth with a 0.2/1.