• by Wayne Friedman , December 15, 2008

With about half of Sunday programming in reruns or with special programs, NBC had a clear path to victory.

The network was helped by its strong, high-profile NFL game--the New York Giants vs. the Dallas Cowboys--which earned a Nielsen preliminary 7.6 rating/17 share among 18-49 viewers, about two rating points higher than its seasonal average. NBC ended the night with an average 6.2/15.

CBS earned a solid second place, thanks to its own big event: a two-hour finale of "Survivor: Gabon." It earned a 4.4/10--a bit higher than its seasonal average, and on par with its finale last spring. CBS was helped earlier in the evening with an NFL overrun that won a 8.1/23. For the night, CBS earned a 4.9/12.

Other networks were well behind: ABC earned a 2.3/6 with some original programming, coming from "America's Funniest Home Videos" and with the movie "Santa Claus 2." ABC was resting its usual Sunday night guns, "Desperate Housewives" (in rerun) and "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" (not on the schedule this night).

Fox came in next, but was more prudent with its programming, running all its comedies in reruns. Fox came in at a 2.1/5, while Univision took a mere 1.1/3.

The CW drifted lower than a week ago, with a "Jericho" rerun and the Mel Brooks' movie "Spaceballs." It earned 1.09 million versus 1.45 million a week ago. The network earned a 0.4/1 in both 18-49 and 18-34 demographics.

 

Time	Network	Show	Viewers (Millions)	18-49 Rating/Share	18-34 Rating/Share
7:00	CBS	NFL Overrun	26.39	8.1/23	6.4/20
	ABC	America's Funniest Home Videos	7.16	1.8/5	1.3/4
	NBC	Football Night in America	6.26	2.2/6	1.6/5
	FOX	King of the Hill (R)	4.16	1.7/5	1.8/6
	CW	Jericho (R)	0.85	0.3/1	0.2/1
7:30	CBS	60 Minutes	18.82	4.6/12	2.9/9
	NBC	Football Night in America	10.22	3.9/11	3.2/10
	ABC	America's Funniest Home Videos	8.65	2.3/6	1.8/6
	FOX	King of the Hill (R)	3.86	1.6/4	1.7/5
	CW	Jericho (R)	1.09	0.3/1	0.4/1
8:00	CBS	60 Minutes	18.53	4.5/12	2.6/8
	NBC	Pregame/Game Giants vs. Cowboys	15.10	5.6/14	4.8/14
	ABC	Movie: The Santa Clause 2 (R)	7.37	2.3/6	2.3/6
	FOX	The Simpsons (R)	5.69	2.5/6	2.9/8
	CW	Movie: Spaceballs (R)	1.02	0.4/1	0.4/1
8:30	NBC	New York Giants vs. Dallas Cowboys	20.78	7.3/17	6.3/17
	CBS	Survivor: Gabon (Finale)	13.72	4.3/10	2.4/7
	ABC	Movie: The Santa Clause 2 (R)	8.27	2.5/6	2.0/6
	FOX	King of theHill (R)	4.55	2.0/5	2.2/6
	CW	Movie: Spaceballs (R)	1.17	0.5/1	0.5/1
9:00	NBC	New York Giants vs. Dallas Cowboys	20.93	7.6/17	6.5/17
	CBS	Survivor: Gabon (Finale)	13.69	4.4/10	2.5/6
	ABC	Movie: The Santa Clause 2 (R)	9.38	2.9/7	2.3/6
	FOX	Family Guy (R)	5.84	2.6/6	3.2/8
	CW	Movie: Spaceballs (R)	1.24	0.5/1	0.4/1
9:30	NBC	New York Giants vs. Dallas Cowboys	21.17	7.8/17	6.9/17
	CBS	Survivor: Gabon (Finale)	13.74	4.5/10	2.6/7
	ABC	Movie: The Santa Clause 2 (R)	9.82	3.1/7	2.4/6
	FOX	American Dad (R)	5.06	2.2/5	2.7/7
	CW	Movie: Spaceballs (R)	1.16	0.4/1	0.4/1
10:00	NBC	New York Giants vs. Dallas Cowboys	20.17	7.6/18	7.0/18
	CBS	Survivor: Gabon (Finale)	13.88	4.6/11	2.8/7
	ABC	Desperate Housewives (R)	6.20	1.9/4	1.5/4
10:30	NBC	New York Giants vs. Dallas Cowboys	19.36	7.3/18	6.8/19
	CBS	Survivor: Gabon (Finale)	12.39	4.1/10	2.4/7
	ABC	Desperate Housewives (R)	5.38	1.7/4	1.3/4

Source: The Nielsen Company