Preliminary Analysis: Fox had 'NFL Overrun' (3.2) and 'The OT' (2.5) to boost the premieres of their animated comedies, but 'The Simpsons' (1.1) was still noticeably lower than what it usually garners with a football lead-in. Though it did have much less NFL help than usual, the 33rd season premiere of the cartoon staple was six-tenths below last year's start (1.7). The news was significantly more positive from there as 'The Great North' (0.7) proved to have much stronger retention of NFL-boosted 'Simpsons' than 'Bless the Harts' ever did. 'North' was just a tenth lower than the year-ago 'Harts' debut despite having a lead-in that was 35% smaller. That helped 'Bob's Burgers' (0.6) and 'Family Guy' (0.6) have respectable returns in the 9pm slot, with both shows down just a tenth from their previous debuts.
ABC had a hellish start to premiere Sunday as 'Celebrity Wheel of Fortune' (0.4) came back three-tenths below its previous low. Leslie Jones-hosted 'Supermarket Sweep' (0.4) and cop drama 'The Rookie' (0.3) also returned with new lows. The momentum of the evening was likely hindered by 'Global Citizen Live' (0.2) tanking the 7pm hour but it's hard to imagine these shows will perform much better when 'AFV' returns to the slot. CBS's '60 Minutes' (0.8) was on the higher-end of its non-NFL delivery while 'Big Brother' (0.9) inched down when compared to its previous Sunday installment. At 9, a 'Tony Awards' special entitled 'Broadway's Back!' (0.4) lost over half of that audience. NBC's 'Packers v. 49ers' NFL game (4.2) was a full ratings point behind last week's game but could adjust up to close the gap. 'Football Night in America' (1.4/2.3) occupied the 7-8:30pm block. The CW was entirely uncompetitive with a repeat of 'Penn & Teller' (0.1) and the 'Wellington Paranormal' finale (0.0).
Finals Update: 'NFL: Packers v. 49ers' (+1.4), 'The Rookie' (+0.1), 'The Simpsons' (+0.1), and 'NFL Overrun' (+3.1) adjusted up. 'The OT' (-0.3) adjusted down.
(P) = premiere
(R) = repeat
(F) = finale
