Ratings: The Firm Sets An All-Time Low for an NBC Regular Season Drama
Josh Lucas, Molly Parker
No terra firma for The Firm. Its two-hour debut stands on this shaky ground — 46 percent below the demo rating of The Cape's premiere a year ago, making it the worst all-time start of an NBC regular season drama. Quite telling: the show lost viewers with each succeeding half-hour. Surely, the network is missing Sunday Night Football already.
Preliminary Nielsen data also showed that Once Upon a Time came back strong — 28 percent above its last first-run episode on Dec. 11.
And CBS enjoyed a big boost from the one-play overtime heroics of Tim Tebow leading the Denver Broncos to an upset over the Pittsburgh Steelers, pulling in 25.23 million viewers with is overrun into the 8 o'clock hour. It gave CBS its highest-rated Wild Card game in 24 years. In the 7 o'clock hour, the game had 41.89 million viewers and a 14.8 rating among the industry-prized 18-to-49-year-olds.
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8 p.m.
CBS: 60 Minutes 25.23 million viewers (7.9) {skewed by NFL overrun as are the rest of CBS overnight numbers}
ABC: Once Upon a Time 10.33 million (3.7)
Fox: The Simpsons 5.1 million (2.3); The Cleveland Show 4.37 million (2.1) {8:30 p.m.}
NBC: Dateline NBC 7.42 million (1.5)
9 p.m.
CBS: The Good Wife 12.68 million (3.0)
ABC: Desperate Housewives 8.79 million viewers (3.0)
Fox: Family Guy 6.04 million (3.0); American Dad 4.59 million (2.1)
NBC: The Firm 6.29 million (1.4) [9-11 p.m.]
10 p.m.
CBS: CSI: Miami 10.76 million viewers (2.7 demo rating)
ABC: Pan Am 4.04 million (1.3)