TV ratings: Fox wins Sunday with World Series over NBC football
Sunday nights are usually an easy ratings win for NBC’s big NFL games. However, with the fourth game of the World Series and a football game that ran into prime time, it looks like Fox was the highest-rated network this time.
That’s according to early numbers from Nielsen, which should be taken with a grain of salt because the preliminary statistics are not adjusted for time zones and thus are likely inaccurate for live sports telecasts.
That said, Fox may have drawn 16.7 million viewers and a rating of 5.1 in the key 18-49 age demographic, beating NBC, which may have brought in 12.3 million and a rating of 4.5.
ON LOCATION: Where the cameras roll
The World Series game and the NFL split the night, with the Boston Red Sox’s victory over the St Louis Cardinals getting the biggest audience overall, while NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” -- a match-up of the Green Bay Packers and the Minnesota Vikings -- scored the most points in the advertiser-desired demo. The Fall Classic scored 15.3 million viewers and a 4.4 rating among young adults, while NBC’s contest drew 14.9 million people and a 5.6.
Ratings for the World Series, now tied 2-2, have generally been better than last year’s four-game blowout, and Sunday night’s game is probably up from the 2012 series closer.
“Sunday Night Football’s” numbers were likely down sharply from last week’s high-profile contest between the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos.
ABC and CBS tied in the demo at 1.5.
ABC saw increases from “America’s Funniest Home Videos” (to a season high of 1.4), the fairytale series “Once Upon a Time” (2.2) and “Betrayal” (1.0). “Revenge” was flat with last week’s 1.5, which, in the key demo, beats its competition on CBS in the 9 p.m. time slot, “The Good Wife.”
“The Good Wife” was flat with last week’s telecast at a 1.4, though it increased its total audience, while “The Amazing Race” fell 11% to a low of 1.7. “The Mentalist” increased 8% to a 1.3. Leading off for CBS at 8 p.m., “60 Minutes” drew a 1.5 in 18-49 and 10.3 million viewers.
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