Football Dominates the Nightly Ratings

Football topped the ratings on Sunday, boosting CBS and NBC during prime time. CBS was the most watched network for the night, according to Nielsen’s estimates, largely because of an overrun of its afternoon football coverage; Sunday’s largest audience, more than 24 million viewers, was tuned in to the network from 7 to 7:30 p.m. NBC, meanwhile, averaged the night’s highest ratings among adults 18 to 49 with its “Sunday Night Football” coverage, which appeared to attract more viewers (15.2 million) than last week’s game. Final ratings were expected on Tuesday. After its football coverage, CBS broadcast “60 Minutes,” which garnered 18.6 million viewers, followed by “The Amazing Race” (12.7 million), “Cold Case” (11.4 million) and “The Unit” (9.9 million). ABC was third over all with “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” (11.2 million), “Desperate Housewives” (15.6 million) and “Brothers & Sisters” (10.2 million).