• by Wayne Friedman , November 18, 2008

This November, Sunday night proved on old adage about television: With counter-programming, there's something for everyone.

For fans of football, the just-completed big Presidential political scene, escapist soap opera, or wisecracking adult animation, there was something for everyone on the third Sunday of the November sweeps period.

Overall, NBC led the way with a Nielsen preliminary 5.3 rating/13 share among 18-49 viewers, as well as grabbing a leading 4.8/13 among younger 18-34 viewers.

Its "Sunday Night Football" took the top spot among regularly scheduled prime-time shows with a 6.5/15, which featured top-name teams Dallas Cowboys versus the Washington Redskins. Still, it wasn't as high as the week before, which featured equally big name-team--the New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles, which earned a 6.7/16.

CBS also had a good night thanks to a big 6.4/16 rating for its "60 Minutes"--the best numbers in a decade for the show, thanks to a big interview with Presidential-elect Barack Obama and his wife Michelle. Early in the evening CBS also grabbed a big 7.7/21 from a NFL Football game overrun. CBS came in at second place among 18-49 viewers with a 4.4/11, up about 10% against a 4.0/10 the week before.

In the midst of all of this, ABC hung tough with a "Desperate Housewives" 6.1/13 rating among 18-49 viewers at 9 p.m.--actually up a bit from the 5.9/13 the week before. "Brothers & Sisters" was at a 3.7/9, the same as a week ago.

With its animated comedies, Fox again had a good outing as well--especially among younger demos. It earned a 3.8/10 among 18-34 viewers--good for second place. Fox was in fourth place among the 18-49 crowd. Fox scored virtually identical numbers on the night with a 3.1/8 versus a 3.1/7 the week before. Its top "Family Guy" took a 4.2/9 among 18-49, and a 5.4/13 for 18-34 viewers.

Among the young set, CBS' early-evening NFL overrun had a 6.3/20. Then came NBC's own "Sunday Night Football" with a 6.0/15, followed by Fox's "Family Guy" at a 5.4/13.

Univision had a 1.1/3 for the night among 18-49 viewers.

The CW was a virtual non-starter again, as the Media Rights Capital slate of shows continued not to register with viewers, averaging a 0.2 rating in both 18-49 and 18-34 viewers. It averaged 580,000 total average viewers, less than a fourth of Univision's total viewer count for the night.