The Sked: SUNDAY RATINGS January 1

NBC finished the week and began the year with a terrific finale for Sunday Night Football, the Dallas Cowboys at New York Giants, a quasi-playoff game with the winner (the Giants) taking the NFC East title and a ticket to the playoffs.  The game's prime time portion averaged a preliminary 8.7 rating with Adults 18-49 from 8:30-11:00 pm.  The official rating for the game will probably go up to a 9.9, a very good number but shy of the season high 10.7 on September 11 for the premiere telecast between Dallas and the New York Jets and just behind the 10.0 on September 18 for Philadelphia at Atlanta.

CBS also benefited from football, earning a preliminary 7.2 rating from 7:00-7:30, as most of the country watched Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos "earn" a playoff slot by losing to the Kansas City Chiefs because the Oakland Raiders failed to beat the San Diego Chargers.  That 7.2 rating will probably go up to an 8.5 in the official numbers tomorrow.  60 Minutes slid to 7:30 and received a preliminary 2.9 rating, while the rest of the night (repeat dramas) fell into oblivion: Unforgettable (1.3), The Good Wife (1.1) and CSI: Miami (1.1).

FOX had some regional football and The OT from 7-8 pm (a preliminary 1.9 rating for the hour), followed by its comedy schedule in repeats: The Simpsons (1.5), The Cleveland Show (1.3), Family Guy (1.7) and American Dad (1.4).

ABC's four-hour marathon of repeat Once Upon a Time episodes averaged a 1.1 rating from 7-11 pm, with the 7 pm hour starting with a 0.8 rating, the 8 and 9 pm hours hitting a 1.1, and the 10 pm hour finishing with a 1.2.

For the week Monday, December 26-Sunday, January 1, NBC should finish first at around a 2.1 rating when the final numbers are tallied, followed by CBS at a 1.6 or 1.7, ABC at a 1.3, and FOX at a 1.0 for the week.