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TV ratings: ‘Sunday Night Football’ dominates; AMAs drop from ’13

Recording artist Pitbull performs onstage at the American Music Awards at the Nokia Theatre on Nov. 23.
Recording artist Pitbull performs onstage at the American Music Awards at the Nokia Theatre on Nov. 23.
(Kevin Winter / Getty Images)
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Opposite “Sunday Night Football,” ABC’s broadcast of the American Music Awards did not fare as well in the ratings as last year’s show.

According to preliminary Nielsen numbers, the awards show averaged 11.6 million viewers and scored a rating of 3.8 in the key 18-to-49-year-old demographic.

The show, held at Nokia Theatre at L.A. Live, featured performances by Garth Brooks, Mary J. Blige, Taylor Swift, Nicki Minaj, One Direction, Lorde, Ariana Grande and Iggy Azalea.

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Though it was the most watched non-sports program of the night, the AMAs saw a 16% decline in ratings from 2013. Last year’s show posted a rating of 4.5 in the key demo and drew in 12.9 million viewers, earning its best ratings performance in four years.

ABC, which also aired “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” ended up as second-most-watched network of the night in the key demo, with a rating of 3.2. The network was third overall with 10.4 million viewers and posted its strongest Sunday primetime numbers since the Academy Awards show on March 2.

Meanwhile, NBC topped the night with 16.3 million viewers and a rating of 5.8 in the key demo.

The Dallas Cowboys-New York Giants game was the second-most-watched broadcast of the night in the key demo with a rating of 7.1. It averaged 19.7 million viewers.

CBS also benefited from its football lead-in. The start of its primetime lineup was delayed until 7:30 p.m. in the Eastern and Central time zones due to a late-running game.

“60 Minutes” averaged 18.4 million viewers and a rating of 3.9 in the key demo, up 129% from last week’s rating of 1.7.

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“Madam Secretary” was also up 20% in the key demo with a rating of 1.8. The show averaged 12.6 million viewers.

Also on the network, “The Good Wife” fall finale posted a rating of 1.4 in the key demo and averaged 10.1 million viewers.

“CSI,” which followed, averaged 7.9 million viewers and a rating of 1.3 in the key demo.

Overall, the network was second most watched, with about 14.6 million viewers. It took third in the key demo with a rating of 2.8.

However, due to the nature of live sports, ratings for NBC and CBS (from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.) are approximate.

Fox’s Sunday comedy lineup saw slight decreases across the board. “Mulaney” was down 22% from its most recent episode on Nov. 9, posting a rating of 0.7 in the key demo.

Without a NFL lead-in like last week, “The Simpsons” posted a rating of 1.6 in the key demo. “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” also fell to a rating of 1.5 in the key demo.

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The network rounded out the top five overall with 2.5 million viewers. With a rating of 1.1 in the key demo, it tied with Univision for fourth most watched in the desired category.

For more news on the entertainment industry, follow me @saba_h

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