TV ratings: Peyton Manning and 'Sunday Night Football' dominate for NBC

Fast National ratings for Sunday, Sept. 9, 2012

Peyton Manning's return to the NFL brought big ratings for NBC's first "Sunday Night Football" telecast of the season. FOX also got a big boost from a late-afternoon game that bled into primetime.

NBC's numbers will likely go up in the final nationals, but currently the network stands at 20.1 million viewers and a 12.1 rating/19 share in households for the night (the game's metered-market rating of 18.0/29 also was the highest ever for a regular-season "SNF" game). FOX took second with 9.6 million viewers and a 5.8/9, beating out CBS (7.2 million, 4.7/7). ABC was a distant fourth with 2.8 million viewers and a 1.9/3.

NBC dominated the adults 18-49 demographic as well with a 7.8 rating. FOX scored an NFL-boosted 4.1 in the demo. CBS drew a 1.5 and ABC a 0.7.

Sunday hour by hour:

7 p.m.

FOX: NFL overrun/"The OT" (18.4 million viewers, 11.0/18 households)
CBS: U.S. Open women's final/"60 Minutes" (9.7 million, 6.3/11)
NBC: "Football Night in America" (8.75 million, 5.2/9)
ABC: "Once Upon a Time" rerun (2.5 million, 1.8/3)

18-49 leader: NFL overrun/"The OT" (7.5)

8 p.m.

NBC: "Sunday Night Football" - Steelers/Broncos (23.1 million, 13.7/21)
CBS: "60 Minutes"/"Big Brother" (10.1 million, 6.3/10)
FOX: "The Simpsons" reruns - two episodes (6 million, 3.6/6)
ABC: "Once Upon a Time" rerun (3 million, 2.0/3)

18-49 leader: "Sunday Night Football" (9.0)

9 p.m.

NBC: "Sunday Night Football" (25.3 million, 15.2/23)
CBS: "Big Brother"/"The Good Wife" rerun (4.9 million, 3.2/5)
FOX: "Family Guy" reruns - two episodes (4.4 million, 2.7/4)
ABC: "Once Upon a Time" rerun (2.8 million, 1.9/3)

18-49 leader: "Sunday Night Football" (9.9)

10 p.m.

NBC: "Sunday Night Football" (23.3 million, 14.3/24)
CBS: "The Good Wife" rerun/"The Mentalist" rerun (3.9 million, 2.9/5)
ABC: "Once Upon a Time" rerun (2.9 million, 1.9/3)

18-49 leader: "Sunday Night Football" (9.3)

Ratings information includes live and same-day DVR viewing. All numbers are preliminary and subject to change. Source: The Nielsen Company.

More ratings at Zap2it: Daily, weekly and cable