NBC has good start

Here are the combined rankings for national prime-time network and cable television last week (Sept. 30-Oct. 6) as compiled by Nielsen. They are based on the average number of people who watched a program from start to finish during its scheduled telecast or on a playback device the same day. Nielsen estimates there are 289 million potential viewers in the U.S. ages 2 and older. Viewership is listed in millions.

The TV season is still young, but NBC is having its best fall start in a decade, leading to speculation it might finally have shaken off the curse of Jeff Zucker.

Thanks to the singing contest “The Voice” and Sunday night NFL games, the network has taken the first two weeks in the crucial category of adults ages 18 to 49, according to Nielsen figures released Tuesday.

It has the biggest Week 2 lead of any network in 11 years and its best rank in total viewers in a decade. That goes back to the tenure of Zucker, the TV czar often blamed for failing to stop a ratings slide at NBC that continued through his exit in 2010. NBC’s entertainment lineup now is overseen by Bob Greenblatt, who recently extended his deal at the network.

For the week that ended Sunday, NBC easily won Monday and Tuesday nights due to “The Voice.” And Sunday’s game between Houston and San Francisco proved a powerful draw, with 17.7 million people tuning in.

The rest of the schedule wasn’t quite so cheery for NBC, though. The network finished dead last on Wednesday and Thursday. CBS had the week’s Top 3 most-watched shows, with “NCIS,” “The Big Bang Theory” and “60 Minutes.” As a result, the network won among total viewers.