Going head-to-head with Game Four of The World Series, NBC's coverage of Sunday Night Football dropped a steep 41 percent from last week's preliminary returns. The ratings were enough to make it a bigger event, but with NFL overrun leading into Fox's MLB coverage, the network stole a rare Sunday victory from the Peacock.
Fast National returns give Fox's NFL overrun a 7.8 rating among adults 18-49. Additional overrun and Fox Sports' The O.T. (6.2 adults) led into the Boston-St. Louis baseball game. Averaging a 4.4 adults rating in initial returns, the game is pacing 10 percent ahead of last year's comparable showdown. Fox topped the night with an average 5.1 rating among adults 18-49 and 15.7 million viewers -- though both numbers will see some adjustments once time zones are taken into account.
As for Sunday Night Football, the Packers-Vikings game proved a smaller draw than typical. The game averaged a 5.6 rating among adults 18-49. Last week's game averaged a 9.5 in the demo before rising to a 10.0 in the finals. With three half-hours of Football Night in America, NBC averaged a 4.5 adults rating and 12.3 million viewers.
NFL overrun briefly delayed CBS' primetime lineup. 60 Minutes (1.5 adults) was down 46 percent from the previous week, while The Amazing Race (1.7 adults) dipped two-tenths to a series low. The Good Wife (1.4 adults) held steady before a slightly boosted The Mentalist (1.3 adults), up a tenth of a point. CBS averaged a 1.5 rating with adults 18-49 and 9.1 million viewers.
America's Funniest Home Videos (1.4 adults) jumped 27 percent on ABC, while Once Upon a Time (2.2 adults) improved by a tenth. Revenge (1.5 adults) was steady with the previous outing, and Betrayal (1.0 adults) moved up by a tenth as well. ABC averaged a 1.5 rating with adults 18-49 and 5.5 million viewers.
