NBC dominated Sunday night’s ratings race thanks to its Pittsburgh-San Diego football matchup, according to early Nielsen estimates. Fox’s new fall addition The Cleveland Show dropped a standard 700,000 viewers since its strong premiere last week, while The Simpsons actually ticked up 1.1 million viewers since the previous airing. This week’s debut of organ-donor drama Three Rivers, on the other hand, came up dry with a mere 9.2 million viewers, in a rare loss of a time period for CBS (and a dive from previous occupant Cold Case the same week last year, which garnered 11.1 million viewers).
As for the rest of the weekend, football emerged victorious on Saturday as well, winning the night for ABC with 6.5 million viewers. And CBS did score on Friday with its reliable mystery dramas: Ghost Whisperer with 7.6 million viewers, relocated-from-NBC Medium with 7.7 million, and Numb3rs with 7.7 million. Fox’s weak link ‘Til Death lived up to its name by coming in dead last at 8:30 p.m. with 2.3 million, while The Jay Leno Show posted a typical (and losing) 5.5 million viewers.
Here, a look at Sunday’s lineup:
| Time | Show | Viewers (in millions) |
|---|---|---|
| 7 p.m. | 60 Minutes (CBS) America’s Funniest Home Videos (ABC) Football Night in America (NBC) |
12.9 8.0 7.4 |
| 8 p.m. | NBC Sunday Night Football (NBC) Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (ABC) The Amazing Race XV (CBS) The Simpsons (Fox) |
15.2 11.7 9.9 9.3 |
| 8:30 p.m. | The Cleveland Show (Fox) | 8.7 |
| 9 p.m. | Desperate Housewives (ABC) Family Guy (Fox) Three Rivers (CBS) |
14.2 9.7 9.2 |
| 9:30 p.m. | American Dad (Fox) | 7.1 |
| 10 p.m. | Cold Case (CBS) Brothers & Sisters (ABC) |
9.7 9.6 |
Source: Nielsen
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who had the big idea of scheduling a show about the city of Pittsburgh, when everyone in Pittsburgh would be watching the Steelers?
I thought the exact same thing!! I will definitely watch Three Rivers over the next few Sundays, but not when the Steelers are playing!
At halftime I switched the show on and thought if this was really Pittsburgh why aren’t they watching the Stiller game.
Yeah I was mad that the premiere was opposite the game. Oh well, I’ll catch it next week for sure.
I find The Cleveland Show to be pretty good and funny. I do prefer him to show up from time to time on Family Guy but the show is funny.
I’m not sure I’d call 9 million viewers “tanked” – sure, not the numbers anyone was dreaming about, but its also not completely horrible for a new show on a Sunday night with strong competition. DVR numbers will be interesting.
ITA with you. 9 million viewers on a Sunday night is nothing to sneeze at.
I disagree, 9 million viewers on a sunday night, when most people watch tv and cuddle in to start the work week is pretty bad, especially given that it’s guaranteed to lose about a million viewers. I thought the show was terrible, it should lose at least 2 million.
especially when you consider that the shows before and after were 9.x as well.
Exactly!! Never schedule a new show about Pittsburgh when the Steelers are playing at the same time! =)
But it’s not about Pittsburgh. It happens to take place there and short of a few establishing shots of the bridges, I doubt they show anything at all related to that city.
Still a lot of Pittsburghers would of watched if it wasn’t against the game. Thats what kind of people we are.
Oh, and by the way. That episode last night was really the second episode, not the pilot. I am not sure how they will work that one in anytime soon, but they may.
So that wasn’t the pilot? Maybe that explains why it took awhile to figure out who the main characters were. I’m going to give the show a 2nd chance but it very likely is getting cancelled from my tv if things don’t rapidly improve.
Why didn’t they start with the pilot?
I read that this is based on a real hospital, and Alex’s role is based on a true organ transplant surgeon. I’d like to see the pilot and get a better intro to each of the characters.
the producers thought the pilot was not as strong as the episode last night. This is after they reshot the pilot.
CBS should have kept Without A Trace since their new shows don’t seem to be getting the same amount of viewers as Without A Trace.
I think they got rid of it because while it had ratings, it didn’t have enough to justify its increasing cost.
Stop complaining about this show already, it’s been cancelled since May deal with it already. CBS had it’s reasons to cancel that show..
I actually was flipping between the show and the game since we were so far ahead. The show is so-so and kind of predictable but I’ll give it one or two more weeks since there’s not much else. Sunday’s a killer for CBS when they have games…looked what happened to The Unit when they moved it to the 10 slot.
Yes, and THE UNIT was a fantastic show. We could go on for hours about how a bad schedule slot caused the demise of a very fine show.
Agreed, why not move it to a Tuesday when nothing else is on!
This show is not going to make it
it’s boreing as hell
I liked it – Alex is as charismatic in a doctors coat than he was in a black trench, and I like the ensemble too. I think Alex and Miranda might be an interesting couple but I found myself looking for Beth (Sophia Myles from Moonlight) a few times. I’d love if they brought her on as a regular along with Jason Dohring, why not, their chemistry as a collective team was incredible!!!
I hope more tune in next week. It needs more time before you can call it a disappointment. Also, I didn’t see ANY commercials advertising it except on this website. Step it up CBS
I enjoy Three Rivers. Alex seems so likable in any role, but the ensemble cast is interesting. I hesitate to say I like it, however, since it seems the shows I enjoy get cancelled. I look forward to seeing how the characters develop.
I tried watching 60 minutes last night, but the audio feed was all messed up. It was too distraction to listen to.
I love how they think 9 million is horrible. It’s Sunday! I would’ve watched it but I have a family and was needing to get stuff done.
I liked the show, but hated the computer gadgetry all over the walls and in the background. I will watch again.
My family forgot to tivo “The Amazing Race” until it was 10 minutes into it. That could be part of the reason why it was below 10 million viewers.
I have Three Rivers on DVR! I promise to watch and LOVE it…don’t take Alex O’Loughlin off of my TV again!
You can not complain if it gets cancelled when you DVR something. You need to watch it live or it does not count in the ratings.
Unless you are a Nielson household, it doesn’t really matter what you do. I think the real problem is that we need to get rid of this outdated system and find a new way to measure who watches what when.
Neilson households are the only ones that ‘count’. Who knows how they pick who gets the viewer box but it is apparently not people with any taste since 7th heaven survived longer than Invasion, Moonlight, and MANY other really great shows. I’m just hoping SOME of them are watching ‘Modern Family’. That show is already a classic in my head and I’m only two episodes in!
I think the key here is that it was a rare loss for CBS in the time period. If this show survives, I suspect there may be a different time period or night in its near future. (Since Cold Case has done so well at its earlier slot, for instance, perhaps Three Rivers might give Brothers & Sisters a run for its ratings.)