Preliminary Ratings: Sunday 09/07/14

It may not officially be the start of the 2014-15 TV season, but this past Sunday was about as close you can get to it. Just one of the 15 hours of programming was a repeat. CBS, NBC and FOX all posted one of their better Sunday nights of the summer.

NBC easily swept the night with the first Sunday Night NFL game of the season, as the Denver Broncos hosted the Indianapolis Colts. The game drew over 21.1 million viewers and a 8.0 rating in Adults 18-49. The ratings would have been higher had the Broncos not jumped with a quick 24-0 lead, by halftime. But, those that stayed with the game to the end saw a great comback by the Colts, that just fell short in the last couple of minutes.

FOX was the #2 network of the night, thanks to an hour of NFL programming at 7 p.m. and the two hour series premiere of the reality series UTOPIA. UTOPIA pulled in a decent 4.6 million viewers and a 1.9 demo rating, better than repeats of the animated series, but dropping near 60% of its lead in does not give the network confidence that the series, airing multiple nights each week, has the legs to run the entire fall season.

CBS' all original lineup gave us one of the best numbers for a Sunday edition of BIG BROTHER and UNFORGETTABLE. BIG BROTHER posted the best non-football demo rating of the night.

Preliminary Network Averages:

ABC - 2.5 million viewers, 08 rating in A18-49

CBS - 6.7 million viewers, 1.3 rating in A18-49

CW - 0.0 million viewers, 0.0 rating in A18-49

FOX - 8.0 million viewers, 3.2 rating in A18-49

NBC - 18.67 million viewers, 6.7 rating in A18-49

Time	Net	Program	Viewers*	A18-49	+/-
7:00	ABC	School House Rock	2.10	0.5
8:00	ABC	Wipeout	2.40	0.8	14%
10:00	ABC	Shark Tank [R]	3.10	1.0	29%
7:00	CBS	60 Minutes	7.90	1.0
8:00	CBS	Big Brother	7.10	2.3	-10%
9:00	CBS	Unforgettable	6.70	1.1	-6%
10:00	CBS	Reckless	4.70	0.7	-30%
7:00	FOX	NFL Overrun	19.10	7.1
7:30	FOX	The OT	10.40	4.1	-46%
8:00	FOX	Utopia	4.60	1.9	-56%
7:00	NBC	FNiA	7.60	2.5
7:30	NBC	FNiA	12.00	4.3	58%
8:00	NBC	FNiA	18.60	6.4	55%
8:30	NBC	SNF (IND v DEN)	21.12	8.0	14%

* - in millions