ABC and Fox Left at the Sunday Starting Gate

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SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2016

Household Rating/Share
NBC: 10.0/17, CBS: 8.8/14, ABC: 2.6/ 4, Fox: 2.0/ 3

Percent Change From the Year-Ago Evening:
Fox: + 5, NBC: – 7, CBS: -10, ABC: -33

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-Winners:
“Sunday Night Football” (NBC), “60 Minutes” (CBS), “NCIS: Los Angeles” (CBS)

-Losers (excluding repeats):
“Bob’s Burgers” (Fox), “Once Upon a Time” (ABC), “The Simpsons” (Fox), “Son of Zorn” (Fox), “Secrets and Lies” (ABC), “Family Guy” (Fox), “The Last Man on Earth” (Fox), “Quantico” (ABC)

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Ratings Analysis:
Football was the dominant force on this first Sunday of the new television season with the Chicago Bears at the Dallas Cowboys on “Sunday Night Football” at an estimated 12.8 rating/21 share in the household overnights from 8:30-11:30 p.m. ET. One week earlier, a 13.7/22 in the overnights translated into 22.75 million viewers and an 8.2 rating/26 share in adults 18-49, based on the Live + Same Day data. Results for any live sporting event are always approximate.

On CBS, an NFL primetime overrun in the 7 p.m. half-hour scored a very dominant 14.1/25 in the household overnights. All program averages for the Eye net last night are estimated given that football also bled into the 7:30 p.m. half-hour. With that in mind, “60 Minutes” opened its season with an approximate 11.3/18 in the overnights from 7:30-8:30 p.m. The eighth season premiere of relocated “NCIS: Los Angeles” followed with a solid 7.8/12 from 8:30-9:30 p.m. (again approximate), leading into a second episode of the “NCIS” spin-off at a 6.5/10 from 9:30-10:30 p.m.

CBS capped off the night with an encore of the “MacGyver” pilot at a 4.3/ 8 from 10:30-11:30 p.m.

ABC, unfortunately, was basically DOA on this first Sunday. A retrospective of “Once Upon a Time” finished last in the 7 p.m. hour with a 2.0/ 3 in the overnights. And it led into the sixth season-premiere at a mere 2.6/ 4 (#3) from 8-9 p.m., which was 30 percent below the already diluted 3.7/ 6 on the year-ago evening. That 3.7 rating in the overnights translated into 5.92 million viewers and a 1.8 rating/5 share in adults 18-49, based on the Live + Same Day data.

Next on ABC was the second season-premiere of crime solver “Secrets and Lies” (which took last season off) at a 3.0/ 5 in the 9 p.m. hour. While that was 15 percent above lead-in “Once Upon a Time,” it was also 33 percent below the series-premiere of short-lived drama “Blood & Oil” on the year-ago evening (4.5/ 7 on 9/27/15). And that 4.5 overnight household rating for “Blood & Oil” translated into only 6.36 million viewers and a 1.4 in adults 18-49 (based on the Live + Same Day data).

Season two of ABC drama “Quantico” followed with a distant third-place 2.8/ 5 at 10 p.m., which was a hefty 47 percent below the 5.3/ 9 on the year-ago evening.

Over at Fox, the Sunday overnights remained grim. While the strength of Fox’s animated block, of course, is dependent on the young adult demographics, there won’t be much interest based on the following overnight results:

Fox/Sunday
7:00 p.m. “Family Guy” (R): 2.2/ 4 (#3t)
7:30 p.m. “Bob’s Burgers” (season premiere): 2.0/ 3 (#3)
8:00 p.m. “The Simpsons” (season premiere): 2.4/ 4 (#3)
8:30 p.m. “Son of Zorn” (time period premiere): 2.0/ 3 (#4)
9:00 p.m. “Family Guy” (season premiere): 1.9/ 3 (#4)
9:30 p.m. “The Last Man on Earth” (season premiere): 1.5/ 2 (#4)

What follows are the household overnight results for Sunday, Sept. 25 by half-hour:
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7:00 p.m.
ABC – “Once Upon a Time” (retrospective): 2.2/ 4 (#3t)
CBS – NFL Football: 14.1/25 (#1)
NBC – “Football Night in America,” part one: 2.5/ 4 (#2)
Fox – “Family Guy” (R): 2.2/ 4 (#3t)

7:30 p.m.
ABC – “Once Upon a Time” (retrospective): 1.8/ 3 (#4)
CBS – “60 Minutes” (season premiere): 12.5/21 (#1)
NBC – “Football Night in America,” part two: 3.9/ 7 (#2)
Fox – “Bob’s Burgers” (season premiere): 2.0/ 3 (#3)

8:00 p.m.
ABC – “Once Upon a Time” (season premiere): 2.6/ 4 (#3)
CBS – “60 Minutes” (season premiere): 10.2/16 (#1)
NBC – “Football Night in America,” part three: 8.2/13 (#2)
Fox – “The Simpsons” (season premiere): 2.4/ 4 (#4)

8:30 p.m.
ABC – “Once Upon a Time” (season premiere): 2.6/ 4 (#3)
CBS – “NCIS: Los Angeles” (season premiere): 8.7/13 (#2)
NBC – “Sunday Night Football:” Chicago Bears at Dallas Cowboys: 13.4/21 (#1)
Fox – “Son of Zorn” (time period premiere): 2.0/ 3 (#4)

9:00 p.m.
ABC – “Secrets and Lies” (season premiere): 3.0/ 5 (#3)
CBS – “NCIS: Los Angeles” (season premiere): 6.8/10 (#2)
NBC – “Sunday Night Football:” Chicago Bears at Dallas Cowboys: 14.1/22 (#1)
Fox – “Family Guy” (season premiere): 1.9/ 3 (#4)

9:30 p.m.
ABC – “Secrets and Lies” (season premiere): 3.0/ 5 (#3)
CBS – “NCIS: Los Angeles” (season premiere): 6.6/10 (#2)
NBC – “Sunday Night Football:” Chicago Bears at Dallas Cowboys: 13.9/22 (#1)
Fox – “The last Man on Earth” (season premiere): 1.5/ 2 (#4)

10:00 p.m.
ABC – “Quantico” (season premiere): 2.8/ 5 (#3)
CBS – “NCIS: Los Angeles”: 6.4/10 (#2)
NBC – “Sunday Night Football:” Chicago Bears at Dallas Cowboys: 12.2/20 (#1)

10:30 p.m.
ABC – “Quantico” (season premiere): 2.8/ 5 (#3)
CBS – “MacGyver” (R)”: 5.3/ 9 (#2)
NBC – “Sunday Night Football:” Chicago Bears at Dallas Cowboys: 12.1/21 (#1)

Source: Nielsen Media Research