Primetime Ratings: Pats Lose, NBC Wins

NBC scored the big win in Sunday prime ratings, with Sunday Night Football leading the net to a noisy 5.0 in viewers 18-49, according to the Nielsen overnights, and a 21 share. In a distant second was NFL-fueled CBS at 1.5/6.

Football Night in America shot up 19% to 2.5 on NBC and the pre-game also grew 19% to 5.1. The game, Patriots versus Ravens, went north 16% to 5.9. The Ravens handed the Pats their first loss of the year. The week before, it was Packers versus Chiefs.

CBS had Packers-Chargers starting off prime, then 60 Minutes fell 17% to 1.9. God Friended Me did a 0.8, NCIS: Los Angeles got a 0.6 and Madam Secretary a 0.4. All three dramas lost a tenth of a point from last week.

ABC and Fox both scored a 0.7/3. On ABC, America’s Funniest Home Videos grew 29% to 0.9 and Kids Say the Darndest Things was a flat 0.6. Shark Tank shot up 20% to 0.6 and The Rookie fell 17% to 0.5.

On Fox, The Simpsons got a 0.8 and Bless the Harts a 0.5. It was 0.6s for Bob’s Burgers and Family Guy. Fox had the World Series the Sunday before, and the comedies had a giant football lead-in the week before that.

Telemundo and Univision both did a 0.3/1. Telemundo had FIFA Copa Mundial at 0.2 and two hours of Exatlon Estados Unidos at a level 0.4. El Secreto de Selena got a flat 0.2.

On Univision, Aqui y Ahora got a 0.3 and two hours of Reina de la Cancion a 0.4, both up a tenth. Cronicas scored a flat 0.2.

The CW posted a 0.2/1. Batwoman got a 0.3 and Supergirl a 0.2, both dramas flat. 

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.