Football fuels Fox rankings victory

A preseason game of a couple of the NFL's most widely used teams , the Gambling and Philadelphia Eagles , lifted Fox to victory in key demos Thursday, a evening which CBS' ''Big Brother'' continued to be the very best-ranked broadcast series. Based on preliminary excellent from Nielsen, Fox's coverage from the Nfl contest between your Steelers and Eagles, two teams from Pennsylvania that hold large national appeal, averaged a 3. rating/9 be part of grown ups 18-49 and 8.4 million audiences overall about the net's stations from 8 to 11. These amounts are susceptible to revision because the live character of sports is not precisely reflected in affiliate-based preliminaries, but the overall game is anticipated to exhibit significant growth versus. last year's comparable game (Patriots-Falcons), which gained a couple. demo rating within the excellent. Fox is anticipated to win the evening in most key demos in addition to total audiences. At CBS, repeats of ''The Large Bang Theory'' (1.9/7 in 18-49, 7.3 million audiences overall) and ''Rules of Engagement'' (1.9/6 in 18-49, 6.5 million audiences overall) were then ''Big Brother'' (3./8 in 18-49, 8. million audiences overall), that was easily no. 1 broadcast series on Thursday in most key groups and again up versus. this past year. Closing the evening would be a repeat of ''The Mentalist'' (1.2/4 in 18-49, 6. million audiences overall). The Eye's program earnings will come lower within the excellent because of a football preemption within the Boston marketplace for the Patriots' preseason game from the Polk Bay Buccaneers. ABC's ''Wipeout'' (1.9/7 in 18-49, 6.7 million audiences overall), ''Expedition Impossible'' (1.3/4 in 18-49, 4.six million audiences overall) and ''Rookie Blue'' (1.2/4 in 18-49, 4.six million audiences overall) all edged up from a week ago once the net's selection was ravaged by football preemptions. NBC had another low-ranked Thursday, offering repeats of comedies ''Community'' (.6/2 in 18-49, 2.two million audiences overall), ''Parks and Recreation'' (.7/2 in 18-49, 1.8 million audiences overall), ''The Office'' (1./3 in 18-49, 2.5 million audiences overall) and ''30 Rock'' (1./3 in 18-49, 2.5 million audiences overall) then an encore of crime drama ''Law and Order: Special Sufferers Unit'' (.9/3 in 18-49, 3.a million audiences overall). Preliminary 18-49 earnings for that evening: Fox, 3./9 CBS, 2./6 ABC, 1.5/5 NBC, .8/3 CW, .3/1. As a whole audiences: Fox, 8.4 million CBS, 7. million ABC, 5.3 million NBC, 2.5 million CW, 1. million. Contact Ron Kissell at ron.kissell@variety.com