Football saved an otherwise sleepy holiday weekend for television, according to early Nielsen estimates. Fox’s late-afternoon game boosted its prime-time lineup (The Simpsons was up 2 million viewers over last week, while Family Guy and American Dad were up 1.1 million). And Sunday Night Football won the night for NBC with its Pittsburgh-Baltimore matchup drawing 16.2 million viewers. As for the rest of the weekend, ABC dominated Saturday night with, yes, more football (averaging 6 million viewers), and Fox took a rare Friday victory with an airing of Ice Age 2: The Meltdown (4.8 million).
Here, a look at Sunday’s lineup:
| Time | Show | Viewers (in millions) |
|---|---|---|
| 7 p.m. | NFL overrun (Fox) 60 Minutes (CBS) America’s Funniest Home Videos (ABC) Football Night in America (NBC) |
16.7 14.3 8.3 7.3 |
| 7:30 p.m. | OT (Fox) | 9.0 |
| 8 p.m. | Sunday Night Football (NBC) The Amazing Race XV (CBS) Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (ABC) The Simpsons (Fox) |
16.2 11.7 10.3 9.0 |
| 8:30 p.m. | The Cleveland Show (Fox) | 7.2 |
| 9 p.m. | Desperate Housewives (ABC) A Dog Named Christmas (CBS) Family Guy (Fox) |
12.6 12.3 8.5 |
| 9:30 p.m. | American Dad (Fox) | 6.4 |
| 10 p.m. | Brothers & Sisters (ABC) | 8.8 |
Source: Nielsen
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I am shocked Simpsons beat Family Guy and they got 9 mil viewers last night.
The Simpsons does not have to compete against the NBC NFL game which starts at 8.30pm ET.
THAT’S BECAUSE THE SIMPSONS ARE FUNNIER THAN FAMILY GUY..WHICH IS GETTING KINDA LAME..
The Simpsons was great last night. Best ep of what’s been a pretty good season.
Love the simpsons!
Americans will watch anything.
The Simpsons are much funnier than Family Guy.
I wonder what will be the number one show for the week with football being on the low side for the 2nd weekend in a row.