Fox's 'Cleveland' opens big; 'Housewives' tumbles

Broadcast premieres resumed Sunday with the series debut of Fox's "The Cleveland Show" (big), the return of ABC's "Desperate Housewives" (big, yet down drastically from last year) and the 15th edition of CBS' "Amazing Race" (not particularly big, yet matching last fall).

The biggest show of the pack was NBC's "Sunday Night Football," Indianapolis at Arizona, which drew (very roughly) 14.1 million viewers and a 5.6 preliminary adults 18-49 rating.

Fox placed second in the adult demo and generated nearly across-the-board time-period increases. The Seth MacFarlane-produced titles all gained, but veteran "Simpsons (8.2 million, 4.2) slipped a slight 7% from last year ("Simpsons" was aided by an NFL lead-in last fall, however, and this is, after all, the show's 21st season). "Cleveland" (9.4 million, 4.9) was up 44% from "King of the Hill" last year. "Family Guy" (10.2 million, 5.2) was also up, climbing 16%. "American Dad" (7.1 million, 3.6) was up 13%. "Family Guy" and "Cleveland" were the highest-rated scripted TV shows Sunday night ("Cleveland," by and by, also tops the list of the most-pirated TV shows).

CBS edged out ABC for third place thanks to some NFL overrun which impacted its primetime numbers. "60 Minutes" (11.7 million, 3.3) and an on par two-hour "Amazing Race" (9.2 million, 3.2) will likely shift in the nationals. The premiere of "Cold Case" (8.4 million, 1.9) was down 30% if its national rating matches this early number. 

ABC likewise had four hours of premieres, each posting significant declines. ABC started with two episodes of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" (7.3 million and 10.5 million, 2.1 and 3.1), the latter hour falling 16%. "Desperate Housewives" (13.2 million, 4.5) dropped 37% from last fall. "Brothers & Sisters" (9.3 million, 3.0) fell 35%. For both "Housewives" and "Brothers," this is their lowest-rated debuts to date.