Preliminary Analysis: For the first time since 2014, Fox had the NFL Overrun (4.8) to boost the toons on season premiere night and lift all boats. As a result, 'The Simpsons' (2.0) barreled past its tepid debut from last September (0.9) and was the highest-rated scripted series of the week by a wide margin. Unfortunately for Fox, the second season premiere of 'Bless the Harts' (0.8) soaked up all that lead-in juice before it could reach the 9pm comedies. 'Harts' may have been a tenth above last year's premiere but it also lost a sizable 60% of its 'Simpsons' lead-in. 'Bob's Burgers' (0.7) and 'Family Guy' (0.7) were both even with their year-ago premieres but still far below one would expect from a football-boosted evening.
NBC's 'Packers v. Saints' NFL game (4.3) came in nearly a full point behind last week's game (5.2) but still has a chance to adjust up in finals. The game was preceded by a sturdy 'Football Night in America' (3.6). CBS's '60 Minutes' (0.7) took a steep nine-tenth drop without NFL help while 'Big Brother' (0.9) only lost two-tenths on a week-to-week basis. 'Love Island' (0.4) was a tenth below last week and steady with its last episode, the reality-series led into a repeat of 'NCIS: New Orleans' (0.2). ABC had a passable repeat of 'AFV' (0.4), a meager '$ellebrity' 20/20 special (0.3), and a frighteningly low 'Card Sharks' encore (0.1). The CW had an iHeartRadio Music Festival (0.1) but forgot to send out the invitations.
Finals Update: Fox's 'NFL Overrun' (6.6, +1.9), NBC's Sunday Night Football game (5.3, +1.0), and CBS's 'Big Brother' (1.0, +0.1) all adjusted up. Football Night in America part 2 (0.4, -1.0), and part 3 (1.8, -1.8) adjusted down on NBC as did the season premiere of 'The Simpsons' (1.7, -0.3) over on Fox.
(P) = premiere
(R) = repeat
