Sunday Night Ratings: WALKING DEAD Sets Records, ONCE UPON A TIME No. 1 In Adults 18-49

Below are the Sunday night primetime TV Nielsen ratings reports.

From ABC:
ONCE UPON A TIME(8:00-9:00 p.m.)
On its return to original against the opening of one of the biggest-ever "Grammy Awards," ABC's ONCE UPON A TIME surged over its lead-in (+10% in viewers/+50% in young adults) to stand as Sunday's No. 1 TV series among Adults 18-49. During the 8 o'clock hour, ABC's ONCE UPON A TIME (8.6 million and 3.0/7) paced well ahead of its nearest non-"Grammy" competition, outdrawing NBC's DATELINE (5.2 million) by 3.4 million viewers and Fox's animated comedies by 58% in Adults 18-49 (THE SIMPSONS/NAPOLEON DYNAMITE = 1.9/4).

* Greatly improving ABC's performance year to year against the "Grammys" ("Home Edition" on 2/13/11 = 6.4 million and 1.6/4) in Total Viewers (+34%) and Adults 18-49 (+88%), ONCE UPON A TIMEscored the Net's top numbers in the hour opposite the annual music awards show in 3 years - since 2/8/09.

DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
Finishing as the most-watched TV series in the 9:00 p.m. hour, ABC's DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES (6.3 million) outdrew Fox's comedies (FAMILY GUY/AMERICAN DAD = 4.3 million) by 2.0 million viewers and NBC's FEAR FACTOR(3.3 million) by 3.0 million viewers.

From Forbes:
The 54th Annual Grammy Awards drew an astounding 39 million viewers this year, an increase of 41%, and the best ratings the show has garnered since 1984. The typical Grammy formula was on full display packing in plenty of glitz, glamor, drama and controversy. So how is it possible that AMC’s THE WALKING DEAD mid-season premiere chomped its way to the “strongest drama telecast in basic cable history against key demos” on the same night?

From THR:
THE WALKING DEAD collected 8.1 million total viewers, and set records in a pair of demos: adults 18-49 (5.4 million viewers) and adults 25-54 (4.4 million).