nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for sunday, september 8, 2013)

Here are the highlights of the 18 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Due to the nature of live sports, Fast Nationals for CBS, FOX and NBC are approximate.]

NBC (18.720 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 7.2, #1) was the top draw on Sunday with the return of "Sunday Night Football" (23.251 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 9.1, #1). Kicking off the night then were its pregame specials "Football Night in America #1" (6.471 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 2.1, #7), "Football Night in America #2" (8.752 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 3.1, #5) and "Football Night in America #3" (18.284 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 7.0, #4).

FOX (9.857 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.9, #2) then took home a distant second place with its mix of "NFL Overrun" (21.530 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 7.9, #2), "The OT" (19.745 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 7.5, #3) plus repeats of "The Simpsons" (6.505 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 2.9, #6), "Bob's Burgers" (4.097 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 1.8, #10), "Family Guy" (3.731 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 1.7, #T11) and another "Family Guy" (3.533 million viewers, #17; adults 18-49: 1.7, #T11).

Next up was CBS (7.241 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.6, #3) with a full hour of "Tennis Overrun" (8.126 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.6, #13) alongside "60 Minutes" (8.831 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.9, #T8), "Big Brother 15" (6.814 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.9, #T8) and the summer finale of "Unforgettable" (5.195 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T16).

And finally, ABC (3.948 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.9, #4) closed out the night with repeats of "America's Funniest Home Videos" (4.812 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T16) and "Shark Tank" (3.643 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 1.0, #15) followed by the season finale of "Secret Millionaire" (4.341 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.1, #14) and a repeat "Castle" (2.994 million viewers, #18; adults 18-49: 0.6, #18).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+37.50% - Secret Millionaire
+5.56% - Big Brother 15
-10.00% - Unforgettable

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+37.50% - Secret Millionaire (vs. Once Upon a Time (Repeat))
+28.57% - Unforgettable (vs. The Good Wife (Repeat))
-7.14% - Sunday Night Football
-9.52% - Big Brother 15
-10.26% - Football Night in America #3
-11.43% - Football Night in America #2
-19.23% - Football Night in America #1

Here are the highlights of the 18 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (9/9/12):

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Due to the nature of live sports, Fast Nationals for FOX, CBS and NBC are approximate. On FOX, The Simpsons began at 8:12p with entertainment prime sliding.]

NBC (20.11 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 7.8, #1) was the network to beat with the official return of "Sunday Night Football" (24.72 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 9.8, #1). Kicking off the night were the pre-game specials "Football Night in America #1" (7.82 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.6, #6), "Football Night in America #2" (9.68 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 3.5, #4) and "Football Night in America #3" (19.78 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 7.8, #2).

FOX (9.62 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 4.1, #2) then claimed the silver with a full hour of "NFL Overrun" (18.39 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 7.5, #3) followed by repeats of "The Simpsons" (7.31 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 3.1, #5), another "The Simpsons" (4.76 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 2.1, #T7), "Family Guy" (4.51 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 2.0, #11) and another "Family Guy" (4.37 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 2.1, #T7).

Next up was CBS (7.17 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.5, #3) with its half-hour of "Tennis Overrun" (9.03 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.8, #12) followed by "60 Minutes" (11.40 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.1, #T7), "Big Brother 14" (6.97 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 2.1, #T7) and repeats of "The Good Wife" (3.93 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T15) and "The Mentalist" (3.71 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T17).

And finally, ABC (2.80 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.7, #4) rounded out the night with its marathon mix of "Once Upon a Time" (2.50 million viewers, #18; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T17), another "Once Upon a Time" (3.01 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T15), yet another "Once Upon a Time" (2.81 million viewers, #17; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T13) and even more "Once Upon a Time" (2.87 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T13).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+75.00% - 60 Minutes (vs. 8/26/12)
+23.53% - Big Brother 14

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):

+61.54% - 60 Minutes (vs. 60 Minutes (Repeat))
+3.16% - Sunday Night Football
-41.67% - Big Brother 14 (vs. 9/11: 10 Years Later)

Source: Nielsen Media Research