TV Ratings: ‘Sunday Night Football’ Quiet, NFL Lifts Fox Comedies

NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” isn’t out of the woods yet. The Seattle Seahawks’ drubbing of the Carolina Panthers (40-7) pulled in an 11.5 household rating in Nielsen’s metered market overnights, slightly down from last week’s 11.8 household rating for a Broncos-Chiefs contest. If you’re looking for comparisons to recent high-rated games, Week 10’s Seahawks-Patriots “SNF” game drew a 14.3 overnight rating.

From 8:30 to 11 p.m., the game averaged 14.76 million viewers and a 5.1 rating in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic, according to Nielsen’s preliminary ratings.

Fox’s comedy lineup followed close on the heels of a large Steelers-Giants national audience. As is usually the case in this scenario, “The Simpsons” was up to a 2.4 in the demo and 5.85 million viewers. “Son of Zorn” came in at a 1.3 and 3.16 million viewers. “Family Guy” followed with a 1.6 and 3.43 million viewers. “Last Man on Earth” drew a 1.1 and 2.48 million viewers.

CBS was in repeats with the exception of “60 Minutes,” which drew a 1.5 in the demo and 11.69 million viewers.

On ABC, the “Once Upon a Time” winter finale drew a slightly down 0.9 and 3.25 million viewers. The two-hour season finale of “Secrets and Lies” pulled in a 0.7 and 3.39 million viewers.

Earlier in the weekend:

Friday:

Fox’s telecast of the Pac-12 Championship game, in which Washington blew out Colorado 41-10, pulled in a preliminary 1.7 rating in the demo and 5.43 million viewers.

On ABC, “Last Man Standing” drew a 1.1 in the demo and 6.32 million viewers. “Dr. Ken” came in with a 0.9 and 4.54 million viewers. “Shark Tank” drew a 1.2 and 5.18 million viewers. A new “20/20” pulled in a 1.1 and 6.38 million viewers.

NBC’s “Caught on Camera” ticked up to a 0.7 and 3.7 million viewers. “Dateline” averaged 6.1 million viewers and a 1.2 in the demo from 9 to 11 p.m.

CBS’ colorized “I Love Lucy Christmas Special” drew a 0.9 in the demo and 6.7 million viewers. The rest of the night was repeats for the Eye.

On The CW, “The Vampire Diaries” ticked up to a 0.4 and 1.11 million viewers. “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” drew a 0.3 and 650,000 viewers.

Saturday:

The Big Ten Championship game on Fox, a Penn State win over Wisconsin (38-31), drew a preliminary 2.3 in the demo and 8.33 million viewers. ABC aired the ACC Championship game, in which Clemson beat Virginia Tech 42-35, and drew a 1.5 demo rating and 5.32 million viewers.

NBC aired “It’s a Wonderful Life” in primetime, drawing a 0.6 in the demo and 3.74 million viewers for its trouble (up slightly in total viewers from last year). The first of three new “Saturday Night Live” episodes, this one with host Emma Stone, accounted for the lowest “SNL” rating this season, with a 4.4 household rating and a 2.1 demo rating in Nielsen’s metered market overnights.

Related stories

TV Ratings: Cowboys-Vikings Puts Up Big 'Thursday Night Football' Numbers

'Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life' Ratings: Solid Start for Netflix Series

TV Ratings: 'Sunday Night Football' Wins the Night, Drops Slightly From Week 11

Get more from Variety and Variety411: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Newsletter