Football rules on NBC, 'Undercover Boss' and 'Desperate Housewives' take hits in ratings

Image Credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images; Michael Yarish/CBS; Craig Sjodin/ABCSports definitely ruled in primetime on Sunday, leaving shows like Desperate Housewives and Undercover Boss to scurry after their scraps. The latter two series, in fact, posted record low-rated telecasts among adults18-49 opposite NBC’s Colts-Redskins football matchup and Fox’s baseball playoff game between the Giants and the Phillies.

NBC won the night among 18-49 (5.4 rating/14 share) and total viewers (14.1 million) but CBS still managed to tie Fox for second place among adults 18-49 (3.0/8). CBS came in second for the night in viewers (11.8 million) while ABC followed in third with 9.2 million. Fox finished the night in fourth place among viewers with 8.9 million. Each 18-49 ratings point represents 1.3 million viewers.

The Amazing Race averaged 11.2 million viewers on CBS and came in second place in the adult demo (3.4/9) for the 8 p.m. hour, behind football. Undercover Boss built on its time slot lead-in and averaged a 3.5/9, but was still down 5% versus last week. It was the reality show’s lowest-rated telecast ever and averaged 12.1 million. CSI: Miami, however, was up 4% versus last week among adults 18-49 (2.8/7) and averaged 11.1 million pairs of eyeballs.

On ABC, Desperate Housewives posted a 3.8/9 in the demo — down 3% versus last week and its lowest-rated fall telecast ever. It averaged 12.4 million. And Brothers & Sisters tied last week’s lowest-rated fall telecast ever (2.7/7) and lured 8.9 million. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (2.3/6) averaged 8.5 million.