Ratings Chart Attack!

NBC’s Sunday night premiere of the international competition series “Superstars of Dance” averaged a 3.1 rating/7 share among viewers 18-49 and 10.4 million total viewers, giving the network its strongest non-sports performance in the time period since Feb. 17. “Superstars,” however, lost steam throughout the night, dropping 11% in the demographic hour-to-hour. Superstars of Dance

The “Saturday Night Live Sports Extra” special (2.3/6, 5.7 million) gave NBC its strongest non-sports adult 18-49 rating in its time period since last February as well. NBC finished the night third with a 2.7/7 (8 million), according to preliminary Nielsen Media Research information.

NFL wild-card coverage of the Philadelphia Eagles vs. the Minnesota Vikings gave Fox a strong lead-in, kicking the network to a primetime ratings win Sunday night. Game overrun and the post-game show in the 7 p.m. hour averaged a 9.3/24 (24.8 million viewers). An encore showing of “24: Redemption” in advance of the season premiere next week was down 45% from its premiere in November.

A lineup of new episodes on ABC (3.5/9, 10.4 million) gave the network a second-place finish, even though “Desperate Housewives” (5.2/12, 14.3 million) scored its lowest original rating ever, excluding clip shows, and “Brothers & Sisters” (3.2/8, 9.2 million) hit a ratings low for the season in its 10 p.m. slot. Compared to their 2008-09 season averages, “Housewives” was down 13% and “Brothers” dropped 14%. "Housewives," however, continues its streak as the most-watched original entertainment program on Sunday nights, claiming the top spot for the 11th consecutive week for original episodes.

CBS (2.3/6, 11.3 million) finished the night fourth in the demographic, but second among total viewers. Newsmagazine “60 Minutes” (2.0/5, 12.3 million) was down from last week, when NFL overrun gave it a stronger lead-in. “Million Dollar Password” (1.9/5, 10.4 million) performed on par, while “Cold Case” (2.9/7, 12.7 million) and “The Unit” (2.5/6, 9.7 million) remained level with their most recent original showings.

The CW (0.3/1, 1.1 million) finished the night fifth. For the night the network averaged a 0.2/1 among women 18-34.

Updated: "Housewives" performance streak. 2:25 p.m.

Prime Time Preliminary Sunday Ratings

	7	7:30	8	9	10
3.5 / 9	America's Funniest Home Videos 1.9 / 5 7.1 mil		Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 3.7 / 9 11 mil	Desperate Housewives 5.2 / 12 14.3 mil	Brothers & Sisters 3.2 / 8 9.2 mil
2.3 / 6	60 Minutes 2.0 / 5 12.3 mil		Million Dollar Password 1.9 / 5 10.4 mil	Cold Case 2.9 / 7 12.7 mil	The Unit 2.5 / 6 9.7 mil
4.6 / 11	NFL Overrun 10.0 / 26 27 mil	NFL / Wildcard Postgame 8.6 / 22 22.6 mil	24: Redemption 2.2 / 5 5.9 mil		No Programming
2.7 / 7	Saturday Night Live Sports Extra 2.3 / 6 5.7 mil			Superstars of Dance 3.1 / 7 10.4 mil
0.3 / 1	Jericho 0.3 / 1 0.8 mil		Movie: Trail of the Pink Panther 0.4 / 1 1.3 mil		No Programming

Source: Nielsen Media Research

*Ratings are specified in the 18-to 49-year-old demographic and viewership in P2+.

A note about ratings: Ratings are expressed as percentages of Nielsen's estimated 114.5 million U.S. television households. The first number, the rating, is a percentage of households tuned into a specific program at a specific time.

The second number, the share, is a percentage of households with televisions in use tuned into that same program. For example, if a show obtains a 10.2/16, this means that 10.2% of all U.S. households tuned into the program at some point during the broadcast. Meanwhile, 16% of all households watching television during the time period viewed the program at some point. Ratings are broken down further by demographic, as networks sell advertising time based on the makeup of the audience.