TV RATINGS: Golden Globes On Par With Last Year

A huge primetime overrun from the Giants-Packers NFC Divisional playoff game easily won the night for Fox and lifted the network’s animation block. NBC is on track to finish second with the Golden Globe Awards, which were on par with last year in the metered markets. Fox’s football coverage ended at 8:12 PM, scrambling the ratings for the network’s comedies. From 8-8:30 PM, NFL/The Simpsons drew a 6.8/16. It is hard to tell what The Simpsons‘ final rating will be (mid 5s is probably a good guess), but it is expected to more than double the veteran comedy’s performance last week (2.3/5). From 8:30 PM-9 PM, The Simpsons and the series premiere of Napoleon Dynamite posted a 4.6/11. In the finals, Napoleon Dynamite is expected to be adjusted to about 4.5 to rank as the third-highest-rated new comedy premiere this season behind 2 Broke Girls and New Girl. The adaptation of the cult indie movie almost doubled the debut of the now-defunct Allen Gregory (2.4/6) in the 8:30 PM slot earlier this season. (Napoleon Dynamite‘s lead-in was about 40% higher than Allen Gregory‘s.) At 9 PM, Napoleon Dynamite/Family Guy averaged a 4.4/10, up from Family Guy‘s 3.1/7 last week, and at 9:30 PM, Family Guy and a second original episode of Napoleon Dynamite logged a 3.6/8.

Airing against the Globes and facing the conclusion of Fox’s NFL coverage on the East Coast, ABC’s Once Upon a Time (3.3/8) was down 11% from last week. Desperate Housewives (2.7/6) was down 10%. Pan Am (1.3/3) was even with last week’s series low. CBS’ season premiere of Undercover Boss (3.0/7) was down 21% from last season’s debut in September 2010. The Good Wife (1.9/4) was down 30% from last week when CBS’ Sunday lineup was buoyed by big football overrun. CSI: Miami was a rerun.