'The Simpsons' Ratings Hit Four Year High

Thanks to the highly-anticipated NFL playoff matchup between the top-seeded New Orleans Saints and reigning Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles, FOX's slate of Sunday night programming got a pretty massive ratings boost. All four shows airing on Sunday night benefited from the football lead-in, but none as much The Simpsons.

The new episode of The Simpsons, which aired right after the game, saw a whopping 10.2 million viewers tune in live, along with a 3.8 rating in the coveted 18-49 demographic. These numbers were more than enough to make this Sunday night's new installment the highest rated episode of The Simpsons in four years.

Following The Simposons, Bob's Burgers also saw a pretty substantial boost. 5.33 million people watched the new episode of Bob's Burgers, en route to a 2.2 demo rating, the highest numbers the show has seen in five years.

Family Guy's 4.18 million viewers lead to a 1.8 rating, the best the series has seen in a year, while Rel's season finale had 2.8 million viewers and a 1.1 rating, its second best results this season.

The biggest competition for the FOX slate came in the form of CBS' Sunday night programming. All three of the Eye Network's scripted series that aired on Sunday had substantial audience sizes, though none of them kept up with FOX in the younger-skewing demo. God Friended Me and NCIS: Los Angeles each earned a 0.9 demo rating, with 8.23 million and 8.29 million total viewers, respectively. Madam Secretary followed the duo with 5.99 million viewers and a 0.6 rating.

The CW aired this year's Critics' Choice Awards, as it did last year. While the 2019 presentation of the awards show was an improvement on 2018, with 1.51 million viewers and a 0.3 demo rating, it still couldn't keep up with the rest of Sunday night's offerings.

How will The Simpsons and Bob's Burgers fare in the ratings next weekend? They will still be following a football lead-in, but the programs will also have to go head-to-head with the AFC Championship between the Kansas City Chiefs and New England Patriots airing on CBS.