'Sunday Night Football' Takes Top Holiday Ratings

(NewsCore) - An audience of more than 24 million watched NBC's "Sunday Night Football" over the holiday weekend, putting it on top for the week of December 19 to 25, according to Nielsen ratings released Wednesday.

Viewers tuning into the Green Bay Packers' 35-21 victory over the Chicago Bears on Christmas also gave a boost to NBC's "Sunday Night NFL Pre-Kick," which came in second with an audience of 18.6 million.

"NCIS" on CBS placed third with 12.3 million viewers.

According to Nielsen, the "Top 10 Broadcast Ranking by Total Viewers: December 19 to December 25, 2011" was as follows:

1. NBC: "Sunday Night Football" -- 24,019,000
2. NBC: "Sunday Night NFL Pre-Kick" -- 18,671,000
3. CBS: "NCIS" -- 12,370,000
4. NBC: "Football Night in America Part 3" -- 14,731,000
5. CBS: "NCIS: Los Angeles" -- 11,427,000
6. FOX: "X Factor Thursday" -- 12,592,000
7. FOX: "X Factor Wednesday" -- 11,233,000
8. CBS: "The Big Bang Theory" -- 9,283,000
9. CBS: "The Mentalist" -- 8,473,000
10. CBS: "Unforgettable" -- 8,093,000