NBC AND CBS IN TIGHT RATINGS RACE

NBC’s Sunday Night Football and CBS’s NCIS wound up in a virtual tie for first place among total viewers and households, but the football telecast was the clear winner among the money demo: adults 18-49. The telecast, featuring the Cincinnati Bengals and the New England Patriots, also helped NBC edge out CBS to become No. 1 in the key demo for the week. As usual during the regular season, CBS remained on top with total adults. There was a big shakeup in the evening news rankings, however, as ABC World News Tonight with David Muir beat out NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams just one month after Muir took over from Diane Sawyer. It was the first time that the ABC newscast beat out NBC’s in eight years. The ABC broadcast averaged 8.42 million viewers, while NBC had 8.25 million, according to Nielsen Research. CBS finished the week among total households with a 7.1 rating and a 12 share. NBC placed second with a 5.6/9. ABC placed third with a 4.8/8, while Fox remained in fourth place with a 2.1/4.