Weekly Ratings: ‘Sunday Night Football’ Reclaims No. 1 Spot As NBC Wins in Demo

Rick Kissell

November 26, 2014 at 8:25 AM

After getting gobbled up by the zombies of AMC’s “The Walking Dead” in four of the previous six weeks, NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” reclaimed its spot atop the primetime program rankings during the Nov. 17-23 frame and the Peacock finished in first place for the seventh time this fall.

ABC finished a close second in adults 18-49 thanks to a sizable boost on Sunday for its telecast of the “American Music Awards,” while CBS remained the most-watched network overall. It was a very quiet week for Fox, though, as it sunk to sixth place in both the demo and total viewers.

For NBC, the Dallas Cowboys-New York Giants contest averaged an 8.1 rating/22 share in adults 18-49 and 22.38 million viewers overall, standing as the No. 1 program in both categories. It was one of only a few “SNF” games this season to be competitive in the closing minutes.

“The Walking Dead” (7.0/18 in 18-49, 13.33 million viewers overall) was on the low end of its range this season but still towered over the No. 2 entertainment series of the week: CBS’ “The Big Bang Theory” (4.1/13 in 18-49, 14.61 million viewers overall), which was lower than usual itself.

ABC scored big on Thursday with the fall finales of “Grey’s Anatomy” (2.4/7 in 18-49, 8.33 million viewers overall), “Scandal” (3.1/9 in 18-49, 10.15 million viewers overall) and “How to Get Away With Murder” (3.1/10 in 18-49, 9.82 million viewers overall). “Scandal” and “Murder” tied as the week’s No. 1 broadcast drama in 18-49.

And “Modern Family” (3.7/11 in 18-49, 10.88 million viewers overall) was again Wednesday’s No. 1 show, hitting an 8-week high in 18-49 behind near-season highs for “The Middle” (2.2/7 in 18-49, 8.32 million viewers overall) and “The Goldbergs” (2.4/7 in 18-49, 7.70 million viewers overall) leading off the night..

NBC’s Katherine Heigl drama “State of Affairs” opened to fairly good numbers (2.2/7 in 18-49, 8.69 million viewers overall), though it fell off on Monday of this week. Later in the week in the 10 o’clock hour, “Parenthood” (1.3/4 in 18-49, 3.99 million viewers overall) was on the rise and beat out CBS’ “Elementary” by 0.3 in 18-49, and “Constantine” (1.1/4 in 18-49, 3.54 million viewers overall) bounced back 0.3 from its low of the previous week.

At CBS, Friday’s “Hawaii Five-0″ (1.4/5 in 18-49, 10.07 million viewers overall) and “Blue Bloods” (1.3/4 in 18-49, 11.62 million viewers overall) hit season highs in total viewers after being preempted the previous week. And rookie Wednesday drama “Stalker” (1.6/5 in 18-49, 7.98 million viewers overall) bounced back a bit after falling to a 1.4 for a couple of weeks.

Rookie savior “Gotham” (2.3/7 in 18-49, 6.49 million viewers overall) was Fox’s only program to do at least a 2 demo rating, while the the net’s other first-year shows (“Red Band Society,” “Gracepoint” and “Mulaney”) all remained below a 1 rating. Sophomore “MasterChef Junior” (1.6/5 in 18-49, 4.26 million viewers overall) is holding up pretty well in its very tough Tuesday hour.

CW was again paced by “The Flash” (1.4/4 in 18-49, 3.73 million viewers overall), while its lead-out “Supernatural” (1.0/3 in 18-49, 2.54 million viewers overall) matched its season high in adults 18-34 (1.1/4) and hit a season high in total viewers.

Of note in cable, FX’s “Sons of Anarchy” had another strong showing Tuesday as it nears the end of its run (2.4/7 in 18-49, 4.62 million viewers overall), beating the broadcast dramas in its time period in 18-49.

Hallmark claimed two of cable’s most-watched programs of the week with holiday movies “A Royal Christmas” on Saturday (4.48 million) and “The Christmas Shepherd” on Sunday (4.15 million).

In a busy news week that included President Obama’s speech on immigration and the lead up to the decision in Ferguson, Fox News Channel’s “The O’Reilly Factor” delivered its highest-rated week in total viewers (3.3 million) and adults 25-54 (379,000) in nearly two years. And on a total-day basis, FNC was No. 2 to Nickelodeon in total viewers.

Showtime’s Sunday dramas continue to gain viewers, with “Homeland” (1.77 million for its 9 p.m. telecast) up 7% to a season high and “The Affair” delivering its largest audience to date (877,000). Adding in an encore telecast, “Affair” went over the 1 million mark for the night for the first time (1.12 million).

NETWORK RANKINGS
(Week of Nov. 17-23, 2014)

Adults 18-49
NBC 2.4/7
ABC 2.2/7
CBS 2.0/6
UNI 1.3/4
ESPN 1.2/4
Fox 1.1/3
AMC 0.7/2
CW 0.7/2
TBS 0.7/2
USA 0.5/2
TEL 0.5/1

Total Viewers (in million)
CBS 10.56
NBC 8.46
ABC 8.20
ESPN 3.39
UNI 3.25
Fox 3.17
HALL 2.06
Fox News 2.01
CW 1.86
Disney 1.77

TOP PRIMETIME PROGRAMS
(Week of Nov. 17-23, 2014)

ADULTS 18-49 (Rating/Share)
1. Sunday Night Football: Dallas-N.Y. Giants (NBC), 8.1/21
2. The Walking Dead (AMC), 7.0/18
3. Monday Night Football: Pittsburgh-Tennessee (ESPN), 4.5/13
4. The Big Bang Theory (CBS), 4.1/13
5. American Music Awards (ABC), 3.8/10
6. Modern Family (ABC), 3.7/11
7. 60 Minutes (CBS), 3.2/9
8. How to Get Away With Murder (ABC), 3.1/10
8. Scandal (ABC), 3.1/9
8. The Voice-Monday (NBC), 3.1/8
11. The Voice-Tuesday (NBC), 2.7/8
11. Thursday Night Football: Kansas City-Oakland (NFLN), 2.7/8
13. NCIS (CBS), 2.6/8
13. Black-ish (ABC), 2.6/8
15. Mom (CBS), 2.5/8
16. Survivor (CBS), 2.4/8
16. Grey’s Anatomy (ABC), 2.4/7
16. The Goldbergs (ABC), 2.4/7
16. Sons of Anarchy (FX), 2.4/7
20. NCIS: New Orleans (CBS), 2.3/7
20. Gotham (Fox), 2.3/7
20. Criminal Minds (CBS), 2.3/7
20. Dancing With the Stars (ABC), 2.3/6

TOTAL VIEWERS (in millions)
1. Sunday Night Football: Dallas-N.Y. Giants (NBC), 22.38
2. NCIS (CBS), 18.10
3. 60 Minutes (CBS), 17.19
4. NCIS: New Orleans (CBS), 16.86
5. The Big Bang Theory (CBS), 14.61
6. Dancing With the Stars (ABC), 14.30
7. The Walking Dead (AMC), 13.33
8. Monday Night Football: Pittsburgh-Tennessee (ESPN), 12.77
9. Madam Secretary (CBS), 12.41
10. Blue Bloods (CBS), 11.62
11. American Music Awards (ABC), 11.61
12. The Voice-Monday (NBC), 11.13
13. Modern Family (ABC), 10.88
14. The Voice-Tuesday (NBC), 10.82
15. Criminal Minds (CBS), 10.68
16. The Good Wife (CBS), 10.26
17. Mom (CBS), 10.19
18. Scorpion (CBS), 10.17
19. Scandal (ABC), 10.15
20. Hawaii Five-0 (CBS), 10.07

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Weekly Ratings: ‘Sunday Night Football’ Reclaims No. 1 Spot As NBC Wins in Demo