TV Ratings: More Fatigue for 'Sunday Night Football'
The Steelers' narrow win drops year-to-year and week-to-week.
Sunday's super-slim 39-38 victory for the Pittsburgh Steelers over the Baltimore Ravens was the biggest thing going for broadcast on Sunday night.
NBC's latest Sunday Night Football averaged an 11.6 overnight rating among households. Before time zone adjustments, it easily won the night — topping even the midwinter finale of AMC's The Walking Dead. But, stacked against a season high for the same week a year ago, the game suffered a pretty steep drop.
The Steelers' win was down 30 percent from the huge Giants-Cowboys game a year ago. And, even with such a tight matchup, this week's marquee primetime game was down 11 percent.
Good news for Fox: its own NFL overrun, from the day's biggest game, propelled huge gains for its primetime lineup. Before any adjustments, The Simpsons averaged a 2.7 rating among adults 18-49 in Fast Affiliate returns. Bob's Burgers (1.6 adults) was also improved, while Family Guy held steady with a 1.2 rating in the key demo.
ABC aired a special Frozen short, which pulled in a 1.2 rating in the key demo. On CBS, Wisdom of the Crowd dropped to a 0.7 rating in the key demo after a steady 60 Minutes. NCIS: Los Angeles (0.8 adults) and Madam Secretary (0.7 adults) rounded out the evening.
