Based on Michael Hiestand’s column from USA Today:
NBC got utterly destroyed by OSU/Mich on ABC; Notre Dame-Army got 1.2 million households according to Hiestand, which is a complete trouncing compared to the nearly 15 million households tuned into #1 versus #2. USC/Cal on ABC benefited somewhat by its lead in, but lost a substantial amount of viewers. 4.8 million tuned into the Saturday Night Football broadcast, which likely would have had more viewers if Cal hadn’t lost the previous week.
Back to NBC. The numbers for Notre Dame/Army are exceptionally bad. Granted, there is a viable excuse; its not every day that a Notre Dame game goes up head-to-head with the most watched college football game in over a decade. Still, a number so low is enough to give some pause to NBC. With a six game schedule and one game getting what will likely end up being anywhere from a 0.9 to a 1.5 rating, NBC’s average for its Notre Dame coverage is going to be down significantly from last year (when network benefited from the classic ND/USC game).
On the NFL front: Sunday Night Football on NBC was down from last year’s Monday Night Football game on ABC. CBS dominated FOX Sunday, with the late game getting the “biggest NFL overnight of season”, and if that is true, the highest overnights for any sporting event since the Superbowl. Overnight ratings measure the ratings from the top 55 markets in the U.S.
Update: CBS’ game, the previously undefeated Indianapolis Colts versus the star-studded Dallas Cowboys, scored a 14.7 rating with a 27 share: the highest for any sporting event since February’s Superbowl. Low ratings for the NCAA Tournament, the NBA Finals and the World Series are partly responsible; excluding football (college and pro), the highest rated sporting event since Superbowl XL was Game 2 of the World Series, which finished with an 11.6 rating on FOX. The Florida-UCLA Men’s National Championship Game in March got an 11.2 rating for CBS. Additionally, the 14.7 matches the highest rating for any NBA game this decade, and is higher than the Daytona 500 and any game from the World Series or NBA Finals.
