NBC'S PEACOCK STRUTS AGAIN

Thanks to Jay Leno and football, NBC dominated last week's ratings unlike anytime (outside of the Olympics) since the glory days of Must See TV. Sunday Night Football scored the top ratings of the week as it averaged nearly 25 million viewers, according to Nielsen research. The pregame show placed second with nearly 19 million. And the debut of the Jay Leno Showhelped seal the network's victory for the week as it drew 18.4 million viewers on Monday and 13.4 million on Wednesday. Leno's shows on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday also landed in the top 20. NBC's victory rush may be shortlived, however. Leno's audience deserted him on Monday as he captured fewer than a third of the viewers who tuned in a week earlier. Likewise on Tuesday, his new show drew just 6.8 million viewers.

{@@@newline@@@}{@@@newline@@@}The top ten shows of the week according to Nielsen Research:

1. Sunday Night Football, NBC, 15.1/25; 2. Sunday Night Football Pre-Kickoff, NBC, 11.5/19; 3. Jay Leno Show (Monday), NBC, 11.5/19; 4.America's Got Talent (Wednesday 9:00 p.m.), NBC, 9.5/16; 5. NFL Football (Sunday Over-run), CBS, 9.7/18; 6. America's Got Talent (Monday), NBC, 8.5/13; 7. Primetime Emmy Awards, CBS, 8.7/14; 8. Jay Leno Show (Wednesday), NBC, 8.5/15; 9. Football Night in America (Pt. 3), NBC, 8.3/14; 10. 60 Minutes, CBS, 8.4/14.

CBS POSTS HUGE NUMBERS ON TUESDAY

CBS won every half hour of primetime for its first Tuesday night of the new season -- and beat its year-ago ratings in the process. Its long-running NCIS kicked off the night with 20 million viewers, 11 percent above the 18 million who tuned in for the season premiere a year ago. At 9:00 p.m., the series' spinoff, NCIS: Los Angeles, got off to an impressive start as it retained 92 percent of its lead-in's audience, pulling in 18.32 million viewers. At 10:00 p.m., the series debut of The Good Wifehusbanded 75 percent of NCIS: L.A.'s audience with 13.72 million viewers.

THE RTNDA WILL BECOME THE RTDNA

The RTNDA -- the Radio and Television News Directors Association -- is reversing the "n" and "d" in its abbreviation. The "d," however, will now stand for "Digital" rather than "Directors." The name change is officially scheduled to take place on October 13. In a statement on Tuesday, the organization indicated that the change was intended to reflect changes in the broadcast and cable industries and embrace "the newest members of our newsrooms working on the digital platforms." Originally limited to radio news directors and called the RNDA, the group has for many years been open to all broadcast and cable journalists and has lobbied to preserve their free-speech rights. It annually presents the Edward R. Murrow awards, a kind of Oscars for broadcast journalism. In its statement on Tuesday, the organization seemed to imply that it is in merger discussions with then Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ). Saying that it hopes to hold a joint national convention with the print-media group in 2011, it added, "It is our vision that this convention will be the first step in a process that will bring all journalism organizations together ... able to enjoy a convergence of great ideas that will make all journalism better, no matter on which platform you receive it."

GETTY'S EMMY STILL ON SALE; NO BIDDERS

With only a few hours to bid remaining, Estelle Getty's 1988 Emmy for The Golden Girls was still listed for sale on eBay this morning, despite avowals from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences that it would seek to quash the auction. With an opening bid set at $15,000, the trophy had received no bidders. One reason may be that a similar trophy, awarded to producer Raymond Katz for The Miracle Workerin 1979, was quietly auctioned off by Bonham's just three years ago for $5,975.