| bc | Rank | y2y | Rank | TPUT | Rank | bc/TPUT | Rank | |
| Sunday 9:00 | 12.5 | 2 | -9% | 11 | 38.5 | 1 | 33% | 2 |
Because of the continued success of all the massive broadcast events on Sunday, the night is somewhat immune to taking large drops on a year-to-year basis, even as Sunday broadcast entertainment shows continue to deteriorate. ABC's Revenge and CBS' The Good Wife both had disappointing seasons against the growing logjam of huge cable options. But despite that, all four networks are leaving the hour totally intact for the fall of 2013.
The Shows:
 | Revenge | Slot Average | ||
| Premieres September 29 | 2.24 | |||
| Best Case: After falling into the classic season two trap of getting too sprawling/complicated, Revenge finished the season well and is getting back to basics creatively! Gets back to above 2.0 in the fall and holds most of it in the spring. 2.00. Worst Case: Revenge pretty much trended sharply down across the whole season, so why would scores of people suddenly come back for season three? Can't even premiere at a 2.0 and takes another big post-premiere drop, ending up at a 1.35. That's down 37% from last year. Likeliest: This kind of show is usually unable to reverse the downward momentum once it starts. And it undeniably started last season. As with its teammate Once Upon a Time, the fall year-to-year comparisons will be truly terrible, but they will brighten a bit in the second half since it won't deal with event season head-to-head. -22% to just a 1.68. Probably gets one last renewal for 2014-15. | Slot Orig Avg | |||
| 2.12 | ||||
| 2.14 | Occupants | |||
| Revenge | ||||
| y2y | Label | |||
| -13% | solid | 2.14 | 1.89 | |
| True | Sitch | |||
| 1.89 | +13% | |||
| Last Pick | Miss | |||
| 2.60 | -18% | |||
| 2012-13 Slot | ||||
| Sunday 9:00 | ||||
 | The Good Wife | Slot Average | ||
| Premieres September 29 | 3.81 | |||
| Best Case: With the Revenge rejection moving full speed ahead and some additional exposure from its multi-window syndication deal, The Good Wife can hang tight year-to-year at a 1.66, narrowly edging Revenge's season average. Worst Case: Why does CBS throw its prestige drama into the timeslot known for cable prestige drama? I dunno, but it's certainly not a battle that TGW can win, and it continues getting weaker. A wretched 1.30, down over 20%, and the end finally comes. Likeliest: The Good Wife didn't drop all that much over the course of last season, so I think it's pretty much settled in after a couple big drops on Sunday. The continued exodus by Revenge viewers can only help. TGW had nearly caught up to Revenge last season and I see that gap continuing to narrow this year. It drops by the league average to a 1.52. | Slot Orig Avg | |||
| 1.98 | ||||
| 1.66 | Occupants | |||
| The Good Wife | ||||
| y2y | Label | |||
| -18% | marginal | 1.63 | 1.58 | |
| True | Sitch | |||
| 1.62 | +2% | |||
| Last Pick | Miss | |||
| 1.86 | -11% | |||
| 2012-13 Slot | ||||
| Sunday 9:00 | ||||
 | Sunday Night Football | Slot Average | ||
| Premieres September 5 | 4.31 | |||
| Best Case: There have been some promising preseason results. Last season's decline was just a blip amid what has been an upward trend across the last decade. It makes up last year's 0.2-point decline and adds another couple tenths to 8.56. Worst Case: Last year saw SNF take its first raw numbers downturn since 2007-08 (and the Super Bowl take its first since 2009). With Tim Tebow now completely irrelevant, the casual audience keeps tuning out. Takes a drop nearly in line with entertainment ratings to a 7.60. Likeliest: Football is going to remain an absolute beast, but I don't know that there's yet another explosion in it. My guess is we're pretty much at the saturation point societally. There aren't tons of new fans to be added. I'll give it another -2% this year to the same 8.00 I picked last year. | Slot Orig Avg | |||
| 1.67 | ||||
| 8.16 | Occupants | |||
| Sunday Night Football | ||||
| y2y | Label | |||
| -2% | megahit | 8.13 | 7.85 | |
| True | Sitch | Celebrity Apprentice | ||
| 7.89 | +3% | |||
| Last Pick | Miss | 1.62 | 1.75 | |
| 8.00 | +2% | |||
| 2012-13 Slot | ||||
| Sunday 8:30 | ||||
 | Family Guy | Slot Average | ||
| Premieres September 29 | 2.40 | |||
| Best Case: The 8:00 hour holds up better than usual due to improved football lead-ins, and that benefits Family Guy too. -5% to a 2.57. Worst Case: Fox is phasing out of the animation game and stops promoting the shows as much. Two years of above average Family Guy drops mean there is some rejection of the franchise going on. Loses 18% to 2.22. Likeliest: League average drop to 2.47. Next! | Slot Orig Avg | |||
| 2.72 | ||||
| 2.70 | Occupants | |||
| Family Guy | ||||
| y2y | Label | |||
| -11% | hit | 2.73 | 2.58 | |
| True | Sitch | |||
| 2.57 | +5% | |||
| Last Pick | Miss | |||
| 2.76 | -2% | |||
| 2012-13 Slot | ||||
| Sunday 9:00 | ||||
 | American Dad! | Slot Average | ||
| Premieres September 29 | 2.04 | |||
| Best Case: It had the best season year-to-year of the regular cartoons last year, so its repeat exposure on Adult Swim is making this show stronger. Once again, in its last stand on Fox, it has the best season year-to-year of the toons: -2% to a stout 2.10. Worst Case: It had the best season year-to-year of the regular cartoons last year, so it's due to even out. It's on its way out, so Fox barely mentions it in its promos. Then they air about half the season at 7:30 so they can launch Murder Police. 1.40. Likeliest: There's a pretty strong chance this show ends up at 7:30 for awhile. Since it's moving to TBS, it has the slot Fox will most want to give away to try something new. But I'm going to base this prediction on the show not airing at 7:30 at all. -11% to a 1.90. | Slot Orig Avg | |||
| 2.12 | ||||
| 2.14 | Occupants | |||
| American Dad! | ||||
| y2y | Label | |||
| -6% | solid | 2.17 | 1.93 | |
| True | Sitch | |||
| 1.92 | +11% | |||
| Last Pick | Miss | |||
| 2.08 | +3% | |||
| 2012-13 Slot | ||||
| Sunday 9:30 | ||||
The Cable:
| Show | Network | Premieres | Avg | y2y |
| The Walking Dead | AMC | 10/13 | 5.32 | +56% |
| Homeland | Showtime | 9/29 | 0.83 | +78% |
| Boardwalk Empire | HBO | 9/8 | 0.82 | -27% |
| Drop Dead Diva | Lifetime | 10/6 | 0.68 | -11% |
The Network to Watch: ABC. As with Once Upon a Time in the 8:00 hour, there are real questions about how long Revenge is going to run. It could very well get itself into real trouble this year.
The Picks: The Walking Dead. I like Homeland, but not enough to pay for Showtime, so I'll probably just marathon it during one of my cable company's free Showtime weekends. I gave up on Revenge late last season, right before it apparently righted the ship. (It's always that way with me!) But I don't really see myself going back to it regardless.
