A boost for season finale of ‘Survivor’

Despite a later-than-usual start due to an overtime football game and coverage of President Barack Obama’s address to the nation about the Newtown, Conn., shootings, CBS’s “Survivor” finale saw ratings rise from last spring.

“Survivor: Philippines” averaged a 3.2 adults 18-49 rating from 9 to 11 p.m., according to Nielsen overnights, up 10 percent over spring’s 2.9.

The bigger ratings came despite the unexpected delays, which pushed the finale to its latest start time ever.

But the OT football game also gave CBS a substantial audience to advertise the final to. The game averaged a huge 8.5 from 7 to 8 p.m.

Not surprisingly, the post-“Survivor” finale reunion show lost much of that audience as people headed to bed, averaging a 2.3 in its first half hour starting at 11 p.m.

NBC still finished first for the night with “Sunday Night Football,” which posted its third-highest household rating of the season, a 15.2.

On ABC, the special on “Bachelorette” Ashley’s wedding to J.P. managed just a 0.9 among 18-49s from 9 to 11 p.m.

Meanwhile, for the night, NBC finished first with a 6.2 adults 18-49 rating and 15 share. CBS was second with a 4.9/12, Fox third with a 1.5/4, Univision fourth with a 1.2/3, ABC fifth with a 1.1/3, and Telemundo sixth with a 0.5/1.

As a reminder, all ratings are based on live-plus-same-day DVR playback, which includes shows replayed before 3 a.m. the night before. Seven-day DVR data won’t be available for several weeks. Forty-six percent of Nielsen households have DVRs.

Also, ratings for NBC’s and CBS’s NFL coverage are approximate as fast nationals measure timeslot and not actual program data.

At 7 p.m. CBS won the hour with the 8.5 for NFL runover. NBC was second with a 2.9 for “Football Night in America.” ABC’s “America’s Funniest Home Videos” repeat was third with a 1.4, followed by Fox’s rerun of “The Cleveland Show” (1.3) followed by an original “Cleveland” (1.4) with a 1.3. Univision took fifth with a 0.9 for “Aqui y Ahora” and Telemundo sixth with a 0.5 for the first hour of the movie “Shrek the Third.”

NBC led at 8 p.m. with a 6.5 for NFL pregame and the start of “Sunday Night Football,” with CBS second with a 4.6 for “60 Minutes.” Fox was third with a 1.6 for “The Simpsons” (1.9) and “Bob’s Burgers” (1.2). ABC and Univision tied for fourth at 1.2, ABC for a repeat of “Wipeout” and Univision for “Jenni Rivera: La Diva en Concierto,” and Telemundo was sixth with a 0.5 for the end of the movie “Shrek” and the start of “Cars.” (The networks all carried some coverage of Obama’s address in this hour as well.)

At 9 p.m. NBC was first with an 8.0 for football, followed by CBS with a 3.4 for “Survivor.” Fox was third with a 1.6 for reruns of “Family Guy ” and “American Dad,” Univision fourth with a 1.3 for “Jenni Rivera,” ABC fifth with a 0.9 for “The Bachelorette: Ashley and J.P.’s Wedding” and Telemundo sixth with a 0.5 for its movie.

NBC was first again at 10 p.m. with a 7.2 for football, with CBS second with a 3.0 for the end of “Survivor.” Univision was third with a 1.3 for “Sal y Pimienta,” ABC fourth with a 0.9 for “Bachelorette” and Telemundo fifth with a 0.5 for “Cars.”

Among households, CBS took first with a 10.1/16. NBC was second with a 9.9/15, ABC was third with a 2.6/4, Fox was fourth with a 2.0/3, Univision was fifth with a 1.7/3, and Telemundo was sixth with a 0.5/1.

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