Nobody can beat The Olympics, right?
Wrong!
Sunday night was a big night on the small screen as three popular television events duked it out for the honor of top show of the night. With the 2014 Winter Olympics in full swing over on NBC, most networks opted to air reruns of their Sunday night staples. CBS, however, featured a live television event honoring The Beatles' 50th anniversary in American music and AMC welcomed The Walking Dead back from their mid-season hiatus.
So which network snagged the most viewers in the first football-less weekend of the year? Nielsen's bragging rights go to…
The Walking Dead!
The post-apocalyptic drama once again brought in huge numbers for AMC with 15.8 million viewers and 10.4 million in the 18-49 demo. With these numbers, the smash series broke their record of 12.1 million viewers from last year's mid-season premiere. These staggering numbers prove that once again The Walking Dead is the No. 1 show on television in the coveted 18-49 bracket.
NBC's array of winter events from Sochi dominated the evening in terms of a total audience with 25.4 million viewers and a 6.9 demo rating. These numbers are slightly down when compared to 2010's Olympic coverage in Vancouver, which boasted 26.3 million viewers and a 7.0 rating.
Trailing behind in third place overall was CBS' live special honoring The Beatles. The Beatles: The Night That Changed America was broadcast exactly 50 years to the day, date and time of the Beatles original USA debut. Despite having music A-listers such as Alicia Keys, John Legend, Katy Perry, Maroon 5 and Stevie Wonder singing the Beatles' greatest hits, only 14.1 million viewers tuned in.
(E! and NBC are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)