or


[01/09/12 - 08:36 AM]
Sunday's Broadcast Ratings: Rough Start for NBC's "The Firm" as CBS's Dominates With NFL
By The Futon Critic Staff (TFC)

nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for sunday, january 8, 2012)

Here are the highlights of the 17 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Due to the nature of live sports, Fast Nationals for CBS are approximate.]

CBS (22.64 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 7.1, #1) overshadowed the competition on Sunday with a massive 90-minute "NFL Overrun" (39.05 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 13.7, #1) followed by new episodes of "60 Minutes" (15.72 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 4.0, #2), "The Good Wife" (11.21 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.7, #6) and "CSI: Miami" (10.13 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.5, #7).<,/p>

ABC (7.23 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.3, #2) then was the king of the leftovers with fresh installments of "America's Funniest Home Videos" (5.78 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.4, #12), "Once Upon a Time" (10.33 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 3.7, #3), "Desperate Housewives" (8.79 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 3.0, #T4) and "Pan Am" (4.04 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T13).

Next up was FOX (4.04 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.9, #3) with repeats of "Bob's Burgers" (1.84 million viewers, #17; adults 18-49: 0.7, #17) and "The Cleveland Show" (2.32 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 0.9, #16) followed by new episodes of "The Simpsons" (5.11 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 2.3, #8), "The Cleveland Show" (4.37 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 2.1, #T9), "Family Guy" (6.04 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 3.0, #T4) and "American Dad" (4.59 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 2.1, #T9).

And finally, NBC (6.25 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.3, #4) offered up a special "Dateline NBC" (6.22 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.2, #15) followed by the premiere of "The Firm" (6.78 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.5, #11) and a second hour of "The Firm" (5.79 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T13).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+35.59% - 60 Minutes
+27.59% - Once Upon a Time (vs. 12/11/11)
+25.00% - CSI: Miami (vs. 12/11/11)
+15.38% - Desperate Housewives (vs. 12/4/11)
+12.50% - The Good Wife (vs. 12/11/11)
0.00% - America's Funniest Home Videos (vs. 12/4/11)
-3.23% - Family Guy (vs. 12/11/11)
-8.70% - The Cleveland Show (vs. 12/11/11)
-16.00% - American Dad (vs. 12/11/11)
-18.75% - Pan Am (vs. 12/4/11)
-23.33% - The Simpsons (vs. 12/11/11)

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+60.00% - 60 Minutes (vs. CSI: Miami)
+42.31% - Once Upon a Time (vs. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition)
+38.89% - CSI: Miami (vs. Criminal Minds (Repeat))
+9.09% - Dateline NBC
-10.00% - The Good Wife (Vs. Undercover Boss)
-21.05% - Desperate Housewives
-22.22% - America's Funniest Home Videos
-36.17% - Family Guy
-40.00% - American Dad (vs. The Cleveland Show)
-42.31% - The Firm - 9:00 (vs. The Cape)
-43.48% - Pan Am (vs. Brothers & Sisters)
-50.00% - The Firm - 10:00 (vs. The Cape)
-53.33% - The Cleveland Show (vs. Bob's Burgers)
-59.65% - The Simpsons


Here are the highlights of the 17 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (1/9/11):

FOX (17.40 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 7.1, #1) had no trouble taking home top honors on Sunday thanks to its mix of "NFL Overrun" (35.96 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 13.0, #1), "The OT" (29.74 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 11.0, #2), "The Simpsons" (12.65 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 5.7, #3), the premiere of "Bob's Burgers" (9.41 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 4.5, #5), "Family Guy" (9.29 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 4.7, #4) and the relocated "The Cleveland Show" (7.36 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 3.5, #7).

ABC (9.43 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.6, #2) then snagged a distant silver medal with new episodes of "America's Funniest Home Videos" (7.55 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 1.8, #T14), "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" (9.11 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 2.6, #T9), "Desperate Housewives" (12.69 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 3.8, #6) and "Brothers & Sisters" (8.38 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 2.3, #13).

Next up was CBS (10.26 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.2, #3) with new episodes of "60 Minutes" (10.45 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.6, #16), "CSI: Miami" (11.90 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.5, #12), "Undercover Boss" (11.60 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 3.0, #8) and a repeat of "Criminal Minds" (7.09 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 1.8, #T14).

And finally, a two-hour "Dateline NBC" (5.62 million viewers, #17; adults 18-49: 1.1, #17) led into the premiere of "The Cape" (8.50 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 2.6, #T9) followed by a second "The Cape" (8.28 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 2.6, #T9) on NBC (7.00 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.8, #4).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): The Simpsons (72.70% vs. 12/12/10), Family Guy (17.50% vs. 12/12/10), The Cleveland Show (16.70% vs. 12/5/10), Undercover Boss (11.10%), CSI: Miami (0.00%), Desperate Housewives (0.00%), Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (-3.70%), Brothers & Sisters (-4.20%), America's Funniest Home Videos (-14.30%), 60 Minutes (-20.00%).

Source: Nielsen Media Research





  [january 2012]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S


· SHOWATCH
(series past and present)
· DEVWATCH
(series in development)
· MOVIEWATCH
(tv movies and mini-series)





most recent ratings | view all posts
[11/03/26 - 03:01 PM]
USA Sports Delivers Most-Watched WNBA Playoff Game Ever; 3.3 Million Viewers Watch Valkyries Win Title in First-Ever Game 7
Viewership was up 128% vs. the 2025 WNBA Finals deciding game (LV-PHX Game 4).

[11/03/26 - 02:42 PM]
"College GameDay" Continues Historic Run Over Halloween at IU, ABC Takes Top Spot and Delivers Three of Top Five Most-Watched Games
ESPN topped all networks in Week 9, with ABC delivering three of the week's five most-watched games and winning the noon and afternoon windows.

[11/03/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of October 26 - "Lupin" Part 4 Captures the No. 1 Spot in This Week's Top 10
"The One About Matthew Perry" debuted in the No. 1 spot on the English TV list, gathering 9.5 million views.

[11/03/26 - 11:01 AM]
CBS Up +12% from Its Week #2 Last Year - Network Places 14 of the Top 20 Series; Top Two Comedies; Top Three New Series
CBS episodes topped the Nielsen live plus 7-days of multiplatform viewership for the week of October 12-18.

[10/31/26 - 10:48 AM]
USA Sports Delivers 1.5 Million Viewers for Valkyries-Dream Game 6 Thursday Matinee
USA Sports' Game 6 coverage delivered the fifth most-watched WNBA Finals game on cable on record.

[10/30/26 - 08:57 AM]
ABC News Wins Across Friday Night, Sunday Morning and Late-Night
"20/20: Help Dale Find Dee" ranked as Friday's No. 1 newsmagazine in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54, and Adults 18-49.

[10/29/26 - 03:25 PM]
Champions at Last: 14.2 Million Viewers Projected for FOX Sports' Coverage of Milwaukee Brewers World Series Clinch
13,476,000 viewers tuned in for World Series Game 4 presented by Capital One across FOX and FOX Deportes.

[10/29/26 - 12:21 PM]
ABC Thursday Returns Strong with "9-1-1" and "9-1-1: Nashville" Rising Over Previous Season Averages
The Season 10 debut of "9-1-1" (8 p.m.) earned 8.14 million Total Viewers after seven days of viewing on ABC, Hulu, Hulu on Disney+ and digital platforms, based on Nielsen's competitive multiplatform measurement.

[10/28/26 - 03:31 PM]
Cowboys-Eagles on "Monday Night Football" Delivers 18.8M Viewers
Seven weeks into ESPN's Super Bowl LXI season, "Monday Night Football" is up 26% compared to the same point in 2025, averaging 19M viewers.

[10/28/26 - 11:30 AM]
"The Drew Barrymore Show" Hits All-Time Series High
This season to date, "The Drew Barrymore Show" averaged 1.90 million total viewers, up +36% year over year.

[10/28/26 - 11:01 AM]
Top 10 Most-Watched Prime Original Films & Series for the Week of October 19
"The Terminal List," "Carrie," "Reacher," "Neagley," and "Off Campus" led all original series worldwide.

[10/27/26 - 03:36 PM]
College Football on FOX Scores Big Numbers in Week 8
7,015,000 viewers tuned into FOX "Big Noon Saturday" for Indiana's win over Michigan.

[10/27/26 - 03:14 PM]
FOX's "America's Game of the Week" Roars with 24,670,000 Viewers in Week 7
The network's Sunday window ranks as the #1 program in all of television through the first seven weeks of the season (24,749,000 average).

[10/27/26 - 03:10 PM]
NFL's First-Ever Paris Game Draws 7.7M Viewers, Concluding Strong October for NFL Network
NFL Network's October International Series slate is averaging 7.1M viewers, up 18% vs. the network's overall six-game International Series average last season.

[10/27/26 - 03:03 PM]
No Time Like October: FOX Sports Drives in 12,259,000 Viewers for Game 1 and 10,854,000 Viewers for Game 2
Both telecasts were the most-watched of their respective days on any network.