VIEWERS READY FOR FOOTBALL

All those new high-definition TV sets that have been installed in living rooms over the past couple of years are getting a workout during the season’s initial football telecasts. After the season’s NFL kickoff established a primetime record on Thursday, NBC’s Sunday Night Football drew its highest ratings ever, averaging 22.60 million viewers (household rating: 16.6 rating/26 share) — up 15 percent from the SNF season opener a year ago, according to Nielsen’s preliminary figures. Earlier in the evening an overrun of Fox’s NFL coverage during the 7:00-7:30 p.m. time period attracted 20.22 million viewers, while the Fox post-game show at 7:30 p.m. was watched by 14.92 million viewers. Meanwhile, Sunday night’s telecast of the MTV Video Music Awards produced the biggest audience for the awards show in eight years. It averaged 11.4 million viewers, despite airing opposite NBC’s high-rated football telecast. By contrast, last year’s VMA show drew 8.9 million viewers.