sunday night football

Here are the weekly TV ratings, by number of viewers.

Wait a second...is that actually an NBC non-game show in the Nielsen top 20? That must be a typo, let me check...

Nope, it's true! That's a rare sighting, like the Aurora Borealis or a picture of Rosie O'Donnell where she isn't doing that "lip pucker" thing to make her face look thinner. It's so rare I just have to put a pic of Law and Order: SVU to the right. But the ratings were still dominated by Dancing with the Stars and CBS shows.

1. Dancing with the Stars - Mon (ABC)

How much would you spend for a 30 second commercial on Grey's Anatomy? It's the most expensive TV show to advertise on, according to Ad Age magazine. It costs $419,000 for a half minute.

In second place is Sunday Night Football, which costs $358,000, and then The Simpsons, which is a cool $315,000. Rounding out the top 10 are Heroes ($296,000), Desperate Housewives ($270,000), CSI ($248,000), Two and a Half Men ($231,000), Survivor and Private Practice (tied at $208,000 each), and then Prison Break ($200,000).

Here are the weekly TV ratings, by number of viewers.

1. Sunday Night Football - Dallas vs. Chicago (NBC)
2. Survivor: China (CBS)
3. CSI (CBS)
4. Sunday Night Football Pre-Kick (NBC)
5. Cold Case (CBS)
6. Deal Or No Deal - Mon (NBC)
7. Shark (CBS)
8. 60 Minutes (CBS)
9. Without A Trace (CBS)
10. Two and a Half Men (CBS)
11. Family Guy (FOX)
12. Football Night In America - Part 3 (NBC)
13. Deal Or No Deal - Weds (NBC)
14. CSI: Miami (CBS)
15. The Simpsons (FOX)
16. The O.T. (FOX)
17. Back To You (FOX)
18. Kid Nation (CBS)
19. CSI: NY (CBS)
20. Desperate Housewives (ABC)

Please tell me that Heroes is not going to jump the shark one day before it's second season premiere. Please, please, please. If this happens, I will be so upset and forced to make up my own version of the season using action figures, some Play-Doh, and a 1980s cassette recorder. To be honest, I don't really have that kind of time, so I'm pleading for the TV gods to make this something whimsical rather than cringe-inducing.

Apparently Masi Oka will be appearing as Hiro Nakamura on Sunday Night Football tonight. NBC was tight-lipped about the content of the ad, but based on the pictures they sent out, you can only assume that it involves Masi and Terrell Owens (maybe he's the new Sylar) in front of ... something. Maybe Owens gets Hiro's ability to bend space and time, lord knows it would have helped with his receptions last year.

That green screen leaves a lot to the imagination. So tune in tonight when the Cowboys play the Bears and see what happens. It'll air right before Faith Hill's opening number. Yow.

One more photo for your enjoyment, after the break.

Here are the weekly cable ratings, by number of viewers.

1. NFL Football - Bengals vs. Ravens (ESPN)
2. The Closer (TNT)
3. NFL Football - 49s vs. Cardinals (ESPN)
4. Saving Grace (TNT)
5. WWE Monday Night RAW - 10pm (USA)
6. Monk (USA)
7. WWE Monday Night RAW - 9pm (USA)
8. Sunday Night Baseball - Red Sox vs. Yankees (ESPN)
9. Burn Notice (USA)
10. The Hills (MTV)

Here are the weekly ratings, by number of viewers.

1. NBC Sunday Night Football (NBC)
2. Emmy Awards (FOX)
3. 60 Minutes (CBS)
4. Sunday Night Football Pre-Kick (NBC)
5. Without A Trace (CBS)
6. Two and a Half Men (CBS)
7. CSI: NY (CBS)
8. CSI (CBS)
9. Big Brother - Thurs (CBS)
10. CSI: Miami (CBS)
11. Football Night in America - Part 3 (NBC)
12. Criminal Minds (CBS)
13. Big Brother - Tues (CBS)
14. House (FOX)
15. NCIS (CBS)
16. Power of 10 - Wed (CBS)
17. The Biggest Loser (NBC)
18. Cold Case (CBS)
19. Rules of Engagement (CBS)
20. Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader (FOX)

NBC's press tour day continued with a panel on Sunday Night Football.

When it concluded, panelists including Tiki Barber, John Madden and Al Michaels tossed out signed footballs to 10 or so lucky members of the press. Score! I caught the ball thrown to me by 2006 Super Bowl champion Jerome Bettis, formerly of The Pittsburgh Steelers, now an NBC sports analyst.

In my dreams. It actually sailed over my head to a journalist behind me. "Fumble," he said as he scooped it up.

Sometimes press tour swag can be elusive.

Keith Olbermann has a new gig.

Or should I say "another gig," as he'll still be host of MSNBC's Countdown. But he's going to add a co-hosting position on NBC's Football Night In America, the pre-game show that airs at 7pm on Sunday nights before the NFL game that NBC telecasts.

Olbermann has a long history in TV sports, having hosted ESPN's SportsCenter with Dan Patrick years ago (he was one of the models for the characters on Sports Night) and his own show on FOX Sports Network that was good but didn't last too long. This will be his first job in network sports in several years, other than what he does on Dan Patrick's radio show. Olbermann will join Bob Costas, Cris Collinsworth, Jerome Bettis, and Tiki Barber, who started on NBC this morning.

[via TV Newser]

1. NCIS (CBS)
2. Deal Or No Deal - Mon (NBC)
3. Survivor - Finale (CBS)
4. House (FOX)
5. Criminal Minds (CBS)
6. CSI: Miami (CBS)
7. CSI: NY (CBS)
8. Two and a Half Men (CBS)
9. Sunday Night Football (NBC)
10. CSI (CBS)
11. Survivor (CBS)
12. NFL Sunday Post Game (NBC)
13. 60 Minutes (CBS)
14. The Santa Clause 2 (ABC)
15. The Unit (CBS)
16. Survivor - Reunion (CBS)
17. The New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS)
18. Biggest Loser (NBC)
19. Numb3rs (CBS)
20. How The Grinch Stole Christmas (ABC)

1. Desperate Housewives (ABC)
2. Sunday Night Football - Pats vs. Colts (NBC)
3. Grey's Anatomy (ABC)
4. CSI (CBS)
5. Dancing with the Stars (ABC)
6. Dancing with the Stars - Results (ABC)
7. Criminal Minds (CBS)
8. Deal Or No Deal (NBC)
9. CSI: NY (CBS)
10. Lost (ABC)
11. NCIS (CBS)
12. 60 Minutes (CBS)
13. Survivor (CBS)
14. Extreme Makeover (ABC)
15. Heroes (NBC)
16. Sunday Night Football Pre-Kick (NBC)
17. CSI: Miami (CBS)
18. House (FOX)
19. Cold Case (CBS)
20. ER (NBC)

I've been a New York Giants fan since 1980, and in all that time, I've always hated seeing them on at night, whether it was on Sunday or Monday. To me, football is a Sunday afternoon game, and I don't really like wrecking my evening just to see my favorite team play. The fans who go to the games like them even less; by the time they get out of the stadium, through the parking lot mess, and back home, it's often past 1 AM, making for some very tired commuters the next morning.

But NBC doesn't care. When they signed their new NFL TV deal, they got the option to take a game that was scheduled for the daytime and make it their Sunday Night Football game, starting in Week 10. The first matchup that will make such a shift is when the Bears visit the Giants on Nov. 12. According to Variety, this game was pre-designated by the NFL, taking it out of the reach of CBS and FOX, who are each allowed to protect four games per week. The two huge TV markets and potential playoff preview was just too much for NBC to ignore. Sigh. At least I'm not going to the game.

No Sunday Night Football this week on NBC due to the World Series (Go Tigers! Stupid Yankees!). So, in its place the network will be airing a mini Heroes marathon.

The marathon will begin after Football Night in America. The three episodes that will be airing are "Don't Look Back", "One Giant Leap" and "Collision". The pilot episode, "Genesis", will not air that night. On Monday Heroes will air in its normal time slot with a new episode.

Heroes has been one of the bright spots in a schedule featuring expensive dramas with poor ratings. Earlier this month the show was picked up for the entire season. I'm guessing that this marathon is to give viewers unfamiliar with the show a chance to see what it has.

Well, the new TV season has been going strong for over a month now, and it's already kinda clear how things are going to shake out, which shows are doing well and which shows are doing poorly. But the network execs shouldn't give up on shows just because they're doing badly or not as well as they hoped. With a little reconfiguration you can fix anything:

1. Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (NBC): I would move this from Mondays at 10 to Thursdays at 10. Heroes isn't the best lead-in for Sorkin's show, even if it is getting good ratings. Thursdays at 10 isn't ideal either, but with so many sitcoms, reality shows, and Deal Or No Deal taking up the 8 to 9 slots, it's hard to find a place for a new one-hour drama. Move ER to Mondays at 10. Not a great fit with Heroes either, but it has more of a fan base that will probably follow it anywhere. (NBC, if you got rid of one, just one, DOND, you'd have more options, but I understand it's a hit.)

1. CSI (CBS)
2. Grey's Anatomy (ABC)
3. Desperate Housewives (ABC)
4. Dancing with the Stars (ABC)
5. CSI: Miami (CBS)
6. Sunday Night Football (NBC)
7. Survivor (CBS)
8. Criminal Minds (CBS)
9. Ugly Betty (ABC)
10. CSI: NY (CBS)
11. Dancing with the Stars - Results (ABC)
12. Two and a Half Men (CBS)
13. 60 Minutes (CBS)
14. Extreme Makeover (ABC)
15. Shark (CBS)
16. House (FOX)
17. Without A Trace (CBS)
18. Cold Case (CBS)
19. Law and Order: SVU (NBC)
20. ER (NBC)

ABC won the Sunday ratings battle last night, with Desperate Housewives the number one show. NBC was second, thanks to Sunday Night Football, while CBS was third, FOX fourth, and The CW fifth. Everybody Hates Chris was down from it's debut last year (though better than Reba did on The WB in the same time slot last season). In fact, all of The CW's shows were down.

One thing that irks me: the 15 minute overtime period for the football game on CBS around 7pm (which delayed the start of 60 Minutes) was the second highest rated show of the night. They actually count the 15 minute overtime period of a football game as a separate show? Why not do it by the entire game itself? They also do this with Monday Night RAW. Both hours of the two hour show will be in the top 10 cable shows for the week, counted separately. How do they judge this? Why isn't 24's or Grey's Anatomy second half hour counted as a separate show too? Bah.