Sunday Remains Tough For Broadcasters

Once-Upon-a-Time-AARolling into the final weeks of the season -– and right before the big May finales are set to commence -- Sunday nights continue to yield underwhelming results.

All networks continue to average under the 2-rating-point threshold for the key advertising viewing group, 18-34 viewers. The top networks were CBS and ABC, tied at a Nielsen preliminary 1.9 rating /5 share among 18-49 viewers. ABC was up from a 1.3/3 the week before, and CBS had a 1.8/5.

ABC gained from the return of its big rookie fantasy/drama -- “Once Upon A Time,” which posted the top rating for any broadcast Sunday night of a 2.9/8. “Time” was up one-tenth from the last time the show aired an original episode.

Running opposite “Time” at 8 p.m. was CBS’ “Amazing Race” at a 2.5/7 -- down one-tenth of a rating point from the week before –- and the second-highest-rated TV show of the night.

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NBC’s “Celebrity Apprentice” scored a still-solid 2.0/5, down from a 2.2 the week before. NBC earned a 1.5/4 for the night overall, down from a 1.6/5 the previous week.

Fox landed with a 1.7/5 on the night overall -– the same number the week before. At 8 p.m. Fox ran its “Fox 25th Anniversary Special” for two hours, which posted a 1.8/5. Earlier in the night,  and keeping with its historical perspective as a night, it ran the original pilots of “Married… With Children” followed by the first episode of “The Simpsons.”

The 10 p.m. time slot is already tough on broadcast networks for most of the week, all due to time-shifting. It gets harder on Sunday night, when a lot of original, touted cable fare is run. CBS’ new rookie show, “NYC 22” scored a low-ish 1.4/4, losing one-tenth of a rating point versus the week before.

Univision was at a 1.0/3 for the night, posting the same numbers as the week before.

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