Sunday TV Rating 9/13/20: Masked Singer Preview Rises from 2019, Sunday Night Football Down from 2019 Start (UPDATED)

Preliminary Analysis: As the fall season slowly starts to creep in, Fox rolled out a preview special of the upcoming season of 'The Masked Singer' (1.3). It was just a tenth below what the sneak peek managed in 2019 (1.4) but also had a slightly stronger lead-in from The OT then the year prior (4.0 vs. 3.7). The NFL lead-in juice trickled away as the night went on with a 9pm Fall preview (0.6) retaining less than half of 'Singer'. But the 9:30 'Family Guy' repeat (0.4) was a notch higher than usual. 

Fox's 'NFL Overrun' (4.9) ended up matching the 'Cowboys v. Rams' game (4.9) over on NBC for the top spot of the night. The peacock network started their night with a solid 'Football Night in America' (1.8). Likely boosted by football overrun, CBS's '60 Minutes' (0.9) went a whopping four-tenths above its last original. Lead-out 'Big Brother' (1.0) was also two-tenths above last Sunday's data point. And 'Love Island' (0.5) improved a bit from last Sunday but held steady with its Friday rating. 

The networks not boosted by the NFL stayed in fairly tepid territory. ABC had a trio of 0.4s with 'AFV' and game show repeats. 'Match Game' (0.3) once more deviated from the pack with a 10pm repeat. The CW's 'Fridge Wars' (0.1) held even and led into a 'Supernatural' repeat (0.1).

Finals Update: NFL Overrun (+3.0), Big Brother (+0.1) and The Masked Singer Sneak Peek (+0.3) adjusted up. 60 Minutes (-0.1) and The OT (-0.1) adjusted down.

Sunday TV Ratings 9/6/20: NBA Dominates with Lakers and Rockets Game, Big Brother Down, NHL Game Modest (UPDATED)

Preliminary Analysis: After last week's monstrous 'Black Panther' showing, ABC continued its Sunday night dominance with a broadcast of the 'Lakers v. Rockets' NBA game (1.3). It was markedly above Tuesday's 'Jazz v. Nuggets' game (1.0) and pretty easily bested the competition. It led out of a surprisingly sturdy 'AFV' repeat (1.1) and an NBA countdown special (0.9). The 'AFV' repeat will likely adjust down after finals. 

CBS came the closest to competing with the alphabet network but still couldn't hold a candle to their numbers. A fading 'Big Brother' (0.8) shed a tenth from its last episode but built a good bit from its '60 Minutes' repeat lead-in (0.4). After 'Brother', 'Love Island' (0.4) managed to gain a tenth from its Friday original. A poorly-rated 'NCIS: New Orleans' repeat (0.2) closed things out. 

The 'NHL' game on NBC (0.4) found itself in very meager territory (though looked like a godsend when compared to Fox's numbers) and led out of a low-rated 'Cannonball' (0.3). Fox decided to swap out cartoon repeats for boxing and somehow managed to fall further than they already were. 'PBC Boxing' (0.1) completely bombed at 8pm, as did the 'NFL Sunday' preview (0.1) that came before it. The CW matched their efforts with a steady 'Fridge Wars' (0.1) and a 'Supernatural' repeat (0.1).

Finals Update: NBA: Rockets v. Lakers (+0.7), Fox NFL Sunday 2020 Preview (+0.1), PBC Boxing (+0.1) and NHL: Stars v. Golden Knights (+0.1) adjusted up.

America's Funniest Home Videos (-0.3) and NBA Countdown (-0.2) adjusted down.

Sunday TV Ratings 8/23/20: Biden/Harris Interview Does Solidly, Big Brother Leads (UPDATED)

Preliminary Analysis: ABC swapped out its usual 'Celebrity Family Feud' repeat for an exclusive interview with presidential candidate Joe Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris (0.7). It performed a good bit higher than what the DNC was pulling on ABC last week but also lost two-tenths from an NBA-inflated 'AFV' repeat (0.9). The interview's numbers were not earth-shattering but still very respectable. Later in the night came repeats of 'Press Your Luck' (0.4) and 'Match Game' (0.4), both dropping significantly from Biden.

Even with a stronger alphabet network, a steady 'Big Brother' (1.0) topped the networks once more on CBS. It led out of a decently-rated '60 Minutes' repeat (0.5) and led into dismal encores of 'NCIS: LA' (0.3) and 'NCIS: NO' (0.3). 

'Cannonball' (0.4) remained unchanged from last week on NBC but the 'NHL Playoffs' game (0.5) gained a tenth after it. Fox had 0.2s across the board for 7pm-9:30pm comedy repeats with 'Family Guy' (0.3) unsurprisingly rising above the rest at the end of the block. The CW's 'Fridge Wars' (0.1) held even while a repeat of 'Supernatural' (0.1) gained a tenth after last week's disastrous 0.0 rating.

Finals Update: Repeats of Last Man Standing (-0.1), Duncanville (-0.1), NCIS: Los Angeles (-0.1), and Family Guy (-0.1) adjusted down.

Sunday TV Ratings 8/16/20: Big Brother Easily Leads, NHL Low (UPDATED)

 Preliminary Analysis: Similar to how it fared on Wednesday, 'Big Brother' (1.0) rose two-tenths from its last Sunday outing and pretty comfortably topped the night. Unfortunately, its 'NCIS: LA' repeat lead-out (0.3) shed a whopping 70% of that strong lead-in. A sturdy repeat of '60 Minutes' (0.6) started CBS's evening while an 'NCIS: New Orleans' encore (0.3) capped things off.

ABC had yet another round of 'AFV' (0.6) and game show repeats (0.5/0.4/0.4). Repeats are scheduled until the end of August. 'Cannonball' (0.4) was up a notch on NBC and led into a low-rated 'NHL Playoffs' (0.4). Fox had more encores of 'Last Man Standing' (0.2) and a carousel of cartoon encores (0.1/0.2/0.2/0.3/0.3). The CW had a steady 'Fridge Wars' (0.1) but a painfully low 'Supernatural' repeat (0.0), making the removal of 'Taskmaster' seem even more undeserved.

Finals Update: The repeat of Last Man Standing (-0.1) adjusted down.

Sunday TV Ratings 8/9/20: Big Brother Drops at 10, PGA Championship Ties for the Win (UPDATED)

Preliminary Analysis: Airing on CBS, the 2020 PGA Championship (1.0) injected a drop of excitement back into Sunday night's bloodstream. It's been quite a while since a telecast cracked the 1.0 A18-49 threshold but it will likely become common again once football returns next month. Despite the hefty lead-in, '60 Minutes' (0.6) held even with last week and led into the Sunday debut of 'Big Brother' (0.8). 'Brother' was two ticks below what it did on Thursday (1.0) but remained a breath of fresh air on the roster for even managing ratings of this size in the 10pm slot. 

ABC was not too far behind CBS with a steady string of 0.6s garnered by 'AFV', 'Celebrity Family Feud', and 'Press Your Luck' repeats. The 10pm 'Match Game' repeat (0.4) noticeably trailed the trio but still performed well enough given its more challenging timeslot. 

The remaining three networks had absolutely nothing to write home about. NBC led the pack with repeats of 'Cannonball' (0.3), 'Titan Games' (0.2), and 'AGT' (0.3). Fox fell into disastrous territory with their sitcom repeat line-up (0.1/0.1/0.2/0.2/0.2/0.2) and was only a tiny bit above the CW's repeats of 'Fridge Wars' (0.1) and 'Supernatural' (0.1).

Finals Update: The 2020 PGA Championship (-0.2), 60 Minutes (-0.1) and the repeat of PRess Your Luck (-0.1) adjusted down.