RATINGS RECAP: 1/22/12

ABC
7:00 America's Funniest Home Videos
Viewers: 5.1 million, 18-49 demo: 1.1
8:00 Once Upon a Time
Viewers: 9.3 million, 18-49 demo: 3.2
9:00 Desperate Housewives
Viewers: 7.5 million, 18-49 demo: 2.6
10:00 Pan Am
Viewers: 3.7 million, 18-49 demo: 1.2

CBS
7:00 60 Minutes
Viewers: 7.9 million, 18-49 demo: 1.5
8:00 Undercover Boss
Viewers: 9.3 million, 18-49 demo: 2.3
9:00 The Good Wife (Repeat)
Viewers: 5.6 million, 18-49 demo: 1.1
10:00 CSI: Miami (Repeat)
Viewers: 6.2 million, 18-49 demo: 1.3

NBC
7:00 Dateline NBC (Repeat)
Viewers: 5.2 million, 18-49 demo: 1.1
9:00 Prime Suspect
Viewers: 4.3 million, 18-49 demo: 0.8
10:00 Prime Suspect
Viewers: 3.7 million, 18-49 demo: 0.7

FOX 
7:00 NFC Championship Game
Viewers: 57.6 million, 18-49 demo: 21.4

On Sunday night, FOX absolutely crushed the competition with ridiculous numbers for the NFC Championship Game. The 49ers-Giants overtime tilt was up 2.7 million viewers and 1.7 demo points from the AFC Championship Game on CBS last year in primetime. The post-Championship Game slot is becoming just as important as the post-Super Bowl slot and American Idol delivered excellent numbers (19.8 million viewers, 7.9 demo) despite mostly airing in the 11pm hour. Wow! CBS was in repeats for the second half of the night but the night overall took a hit from football. 60 Minutes was down just six tenths in viewers and even in the demo as it may have had some residue from the AFC Championship Game that ended about an hour prior helping it. At 8pm, Undercover Boss was hit hard as it was down 2.3 million viewers and seven tenths in the demo from last week's season premiere. We'll see how it does this week before passing judgment.

ABC's lineup held up quite well considering the competition. America's Funniest Home Videos was even in viewers and down a tenth in the demo. A season low, but it was facing competition that was extremely strong. At 8pm, Once Upon a Time really held up nicely as it was down half a million viewers but just a tenth in the demo, posting a 3.2. This is a great great showing for the freshman drama. At 9pm, Desperate Housewives was down four tenths in viewers and a tenth in the demo. While a series low, that's somewhat understandable. It will be interesting to see if it can rise towards the finale. At 10pm, Pan Am was down a tenth in viewers and even in the demo. Just two more episodes than we'll probably never see it again. NBC aired burnoffs of Prime Suspect but they did no worse than The Firm which begs the question, did NBC really need to replace Suspect on Thursdays with Firm?