The "Sunday Night Football" contest featuring the Minnesota Viking vs. Arizona Cardinals topped the broadcast charts for the week ending December 6, both with overall viewing and with adults 18-49. "Desperate Housewives" (which goes head-to-head with "Sunday Night Football") was second on the overall list and third with adults 18-49 behind the post game NFL coverage for FOX's national late afternoon football game.
A repeat of "NCIS" which aired out of its normal time slot by an hour due to the presidential address last Tuesday was the third most-watched program of the week.
Saturday night's Big 12 Championship where Texas squeaked past Nebraska was #7 with adults 18-49 and number 8 overall. The holiday classic "Rudolph The Red-Nose Reindeer" made the top 10 with adults 18-49 at #9 and was #14 overall. "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" managed to sneak into both lists below at #25 on both lists.
Weekly cable show ratings and overnight broadcast show ratings are also available.
Adults 18-49 viewing for the week ending December 6, 2009:
| Rank | Shows | R=Repeat S=Special P=Premiere | Net | 18-49 Rating | 18-49 Viewers (000) |
| 1 | NBC Sunday Night Football | NBC | 7.8 | 10,212 | |
| 2 | OT, THE | FOX | 5.4 | 7,065 | |
| 3 | Desperate Housewives | ABC | 4.9 | 6,454 | |
| 4 | HOUSE | FOX | 4.8 | 6,357 | |
| 5 | SUNDAY NIGHT NFL PRE-KICK | NBC | 4.8 | 6,270 | |
| 6 | OFFICE | NBC | 4.1 | 5,387 | |
| 7 | BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP(S) | S | ABC | 4.0 | 5,260 |
| 8 | SURVIVOR: SAMOA | CBS | 3.9 | 5,130 | |
| 9 | RUDOLPH RED-NOSE REINDEER(S) | SR | CBS | 3.8 | 5,003 |
| 10 | ALLSTATE BCS SELECT SHOW(S) | S | FOX | 3.7 | 4,828 |
| 11 | Amazing Race 15 | CBS | 3.7 | 4,894 | |
| 12 | Biggest Loser 8 | NBC | 3.7 | 4,908 | |
| 13 | BROTHERS & Sisters | ABC | 3.7 | 4,824 | |
| 14 | Glee | FOX | 3.6 | 4,781 | |
| 15 | FOOTBALL NT AMERICA PT 3 | NBC | 3.2 | 4,187 | |
| 16 | Private Practice | ABC | 3.2 | 4,146 | |
| 17 | Two and a Half Men | R | CBS | 3.2 | 4,146 |
| 18 | Big Bang Theory, THE | R | CBS | 3.2 | 4,268 |
| 19 | Extreme Makeover:HM ED-8P | ABC | 3.0 | 3,981 | |
| 20 | Family Guy | R | FOX | 3.0 | 3,893 |
| 21 | 30 Rock | NBC | 3.0 | 3,919 | |
| 22 | Bones | FOX | 2.9 | 3,774 | |
| 23 | SHREK THE HALLS(S) | SR | ABC | 2.9 | 3,852 |
| 24 | VICTORIA'S SECRET FASHION(S) | S | CBS | 2.9 | 3,838 |
| 25 | HOW GRINCH STOLE XMAS-MON(S) | SR | ABC | 2.8 | 3,727 |
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Overall viewing (all ages 2+) for the week ending December 6, 2009:
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| Rank | Shows | R=Repeat S=Special P=Premiere | Net | # Viewers (LIVE+SD) (000) | HH RATING (LIVE+SD) | HH SHARE (LIVE+SD) |
| 1 | NBC Sunday Night Football | NBC | 20,888 | 12.5 | 19 | |
| 2 | DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES | ABC | 14,861 | 9.1 | 14 | |
| 3 | NCIS 9P SPECIAL(S) | SR | CBS | 14,283 | 9.3 | 15 |
| 4 | OT, THE | FOX | 13,732 | 8.4 | 14 | |
| 5 | SUNDAY NIGHT NFL PRE-KICK | NBC | 13,653 | 8.3 | 13 | |
| 6 | HOUSE | FOX | 13,246 | 8.0 | 12 | |
| 7 | SURVIVOR: SAMOA | CBS | 12,822 | 7.5 | 12 | |
| 8 | BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP(S) | S | ABC | 12,693 | 7.5 | 13 |
| 9 | AMAZING RACE 15 | CBS | 12,298 | 7.0 | 11 | |
| 10 | 60 MINUTES | CBS | 12,046 | 7.8 | 13 | |
| 11 | TWO AND A HALF MEN | R | CBS | 11,381 | 7.1 | 11 |
| 12 | BROTHERS & Sisters | ABC | 10,806 | 7.1 | 12 | |
| 13 | Mentalist, THE | R | CBS | 10,737 | 7.1 | 12 |
| 14 | RUDOLPH RED-NOSE REINDEER(S) | SR | CBS | 10,589 | 5.6 | 9 |
| 15 | EXTREME MAKEOVER:HM ED-8P | ABC | 10,351 | 6.1 | 9 | |
| 16 | BIG BANG THEORY, THE | R | CBS | 10,091 | 6.3 | 10 |
| 17 | BIGGEST LOSER 8 | NBC | 9,988 | 6.3 | 10 | |
| 18 | Bones | FOX | 9,923 | 6.2 | 10 | |
| 19 | CSI | R | CBS | 9,896 | 6.4 | 10 |
| 20 | COLD CASE | P | CBS | 9,644 | 6.1 | 9 |
| 21 | CSI: MIAMI | R | CBS | 9,481 | 6.4 | 11 |
| 22 | FOOTBALL NT AMERICA PT 3 | NBC | 9,410 | 5.8 | 9 | |
| 23 | ALLSTATE BCS SELECT SHOW(S) | S | FOX | 9,283 | 5.8 | 9 |
| 24 | PRIVATE PRACTICE | ABC | 9,211 | 6.3 | 10 | |
| 25 | HOW GRINCH STOLE XMAS-MON(S) | SR | ABC | 9,198 | 4.7 | 7 |
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Nielsen Ratings Data: ©2009 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved. All ratings above Live+SD (live viewing plus same day DVR viewing)
DH still going strong, good to know! still I wish next season was their last. I love the show, but I’d rather they go out still good, than later on when it’s totally dried up.
WOW
I SCREAMED WHEN I SAW DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES WAS NUMBER 2
Me too! Number 2 for total and number 3 for 18-49! I screamed too! Yay!
This just proves my point that NBC needs to move The Office out of Grey’s way and move it to 8pm EST. Grey’s takes a lot of The Office’s potential audience. (Grey’s did not air this week)
Hmm. #2. Let’s see: NCIS, NCIS:LA, GA, Mentalist, CSI all repeats. No DWTS.(Shoot the NCIS post Obama repeat almost beat DH in total viewers.) It’s not that big of a deal.
Between this and the Monday night game on ESPN, the NFL had the #1 and #2 most watched programs of the week, *SIX MILLION* viewers clear of #3.
Football really is king in America.
As much as I’m happy that DH is in such a high spot, most shows who currently beat it were repeats.
But still, I’m glad it’s this high.
The numbers fall off pretty quick after football. Glad to see TAR doing so well.
Yes DH was #2 and while that is great, keep in mind that most shows were in repeats last season so I wouldnt get to excited. Still #2 is #2! Happy to see B&S and Cold Case in the Top 20!
Wow, The Mentalist remains the highest rated 10 pm program of the week even though it was a rerun. Fantastic!!
Yay Glee is finally on the 18-49 chart and is the highest-rated of any show that debuted in the last 3 seasons. Of course, it had little competition, but still.
Oh really “most shows were in repeat?” What show was in repeat that usually beats “Desperate Housewives” besides “Grey’s Anatomy”? (and even then the last few Grey’s eps have been weak performers and that wouldn’t have been a guarantee that it would’ve beat DH). It beat “House” which it typically hasn’t been beating this season in the demos, and i really can’t think of another show that regularly beats Housewives. You guys are just mad that after six seasons, the show is still doing better than shows that are at their peaks.
Sam, The Big Bang Theory was a repeat that week. It has beaten Housewives in the 18-49 demo every week but one in which they both had new episodes. So was Two and A Half Men, which is batting a bit less than .500 vs. Housewives.
The ratings week to week are what they are. LOST was the number one show in early 2008 for a few weeks when it was the one of the few original scripted shows against reruns and reality programming. Luck and proximity to lesser programming…