NBC will score a win on Sunday nights

Predicting a Sunday night winner among adults 18-49 is sort of a no-brainer.

“Sunday Night Football” has dominated the night since coming to NBC in 2007, and with ratings up over last year to start the season, it’s a sure bet that NBC will win Sundays this fall.

That's the finding of a Media Life poll that asked readers to predict which network will win each night of the week and how the night's new and returning shows will perform.

Just under two thirds of readers picked NBC to win Sundays in 18-49s, with ABC getting 22 percent of the vote, CBS 8.8 percent and Fox 3.3 percent.

But that said, there are a few interesting shows and timeslot standoffs to take note of on Sundays, say media buyers and planners.

The biggest shakeup on the schedule comes at ABC, where second-year drama “Revenge” moves from Wednesday to Sunday to take over the 9 p.m. timeslot long held by “Desperate Housewives.” The network also has a new show, “666 Park Avenue,” at 10 p.m.

Asked to share their biggest concerns about Sunday, many readers wondered how “Revenge” will fare against CBS’s similarly female-skewing drama “The Good Wife.”

“Will Revenge come back with a vengeance, or will it be gunned down by CBS?” wondered one reader.

“ABC's airing a lot of serialized dramas that require some commitment,” noted another. “Can ABC draw enough women away from ‘Sunday Night Football’ to win the night?”

Readers do seem to think that “Revenge” will hold up. Asked which veteran show is poised for a breakout season, 39.6 percent of readers picked “Revenge.”

ABC also had readers’ No. 2 pick for biggest gainer, second-year drama “Once Upon a Time,” with 23.1 percent. “Sunday Night Football” was third with 15.4 percent.

Readers were generally optimistic about ABC’s new schedule. They think new show “Park,” a supernatural thriller, has good prospects and will receive at least a full-season order.

As for which Sunday night show will see the biggest declines, readers picked another program relocating from a different night, “The Mentalist,” which is moving from Thursdays.

Twenty-seven percent predicted that it will be the returning show that suffers the biggest ratings hit on Sundays.

Fox’s “Bob’s Burgers” was second at 18.3 percent, followed by CBS’s “Wife” and ABC’s “America’s Funniest Home Videos” tied for third.

 

Tags: 666 park avenue, abc, cbs, Desperate Housewives, fall tv season, media life, nbc, ratings, revenge, Standoff Second, sunday night football, sunday nights, timeslot, tv ratings