NBC ratings make comeback with NFL Sunday

LOS ANGELES — NBC unwrapped a welcome gift in the final week of 2012, a ratings victory powered by Sunday night football.

More than 30 million viewers watched the Washington Redskins defeat the Dallas Cowboys and claim their first division title in 13 years, according to Nielsen Co. figures released Tuesday.

The NFL contest drew the biggest audience in 16 years for a regular-season prime-time game, second to a 1996 Packers-Cowboy contest, NBC said.

The network, making a comeback after a string of lackluster seasons, ranked No. 1 in total viewers and in the advertiser-favored young adult demographic for Dec. 24-30.

In a week that TV typically surrenders to the holidays, CBS captured half of the top 10 slots with repeats of reliable series including The Big Bang Theory. The Kennedy Center Honors special also performed well for CBS, drawing 8.2 million viewers to claim the 13th spot.