Football and baseball couldn’t compete with entrenched drama and reality slates Sunday night, as ABC and CBS won the night over NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” and Fox’s Game 4 of the National League Championship Series.

ABC led the night among adults 18 to 49, according to preliminary data from Nielsen Media Research, drawing a 5.4 rating compared with CBS’s 4.2. CBS took total viewers with a 9.4 rating, edging out ABC’s 8.9. CBS was aided partly by a half-hour of NFL overrun that drew an 11.6 household rating and a 5.3 in adults 18 to 49.

Despite season-low ratings, “Desperate Housewives” was the top-rated program among adults 18 to 49 with an 8.0. “Housewives” was followed by ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” (5.5), ABC’s new drama “Brothers & Sisters” (4.9), CBS’s “Without a Trace” (4.4) and CBS’s “60 Minutes” (4.4).

NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” received a 3.9, making it the lowest-rated NFL Sunday night game to date. Analysts blamed the low figure for the Denver Broncos’ victory over the Oakland Raiders on the Raiders’ losing streak. The team has not won a game all season.

Fox’s Major League Baseball scored a 2.4, down 33 percent from last Sunday night’s American League Championship Series game.

For Friday, NBC won the night with its game show block among adults 18 to 49. “Deal or No Deal” was up 19 percent week to week (3.2) and gave a strong lead-in to the debut of “1 Vs. 100” (4.1).

CBS was second (2.8 average) with the dramas “Ghost Whisperer” (2.8), “Close to Home” (2.7) and “Numb3rs” (3.0).

ABC’s “Men in Trees” gained 11 percent on the previous week to a 2.1 and built on its “Grey’s Anatomy” encore lead-in (2.0). Fox’s Game 2 of the NLCS received a 2.5.