Overnight (metered market) ratings by sport.
*Does not include sporting events on cable.
Football.
12.2/20: Sunday Night Football on NBC, Bears/Packers (8:15 PM Sunday)
10.6/21: NFL on CBS, Chargers/Broncos (4:00 PM Sunday)
10.2/21: NFL on FOX, regional (1:00 PM Sunday)
8.5/19: NFL on CBS, regional (1:00 PM Sunday)
5.7/11: SEC on CBS, Florida/LSU (8:30 PM Saturday)
5.0: College football on ABC, regional (3:30 PM Saturday)
4.8/8: Football Night in America on NBC (7:30 PM Sunday)
3.3: Saturday Night Football on ABC, Ohio State/Purdue (8:00 PM Saturday)
3.2/6: College Football Today on CBS (8:00 PM Saturday)
3.0/8: FOX NFL Sunday (12:00 PM Sunday)
2.7/7: The NFL Today on CBS (12:00 PM Sunday)
2.4/6: SEC on CBS, Georgia/Tennessee (3:30 PM Saturday)
1.3: College Football Countdown on ABC (3:00 PM Saturday)
0.8/2: College Football Today on CBS (3:00 PM Saturday)
- NBC: A rare increase for Sunday Night Football. The game featuring the then-undefeated Green Bay Packers against their archrivals, the Chicago Bears, drew a 12.2 rating — up 20% from the comparable Steelers/Chargers game last year. Football Night in America saw the biggest jump; the pregame show was up 55% from last year.
- CBS: Viewers were far more interested in Terrell Owens‘ return to Philadelphia than they were in the Chargers destroying the Broncos. The 10.6 rating for the late game on Sunday marked a 29% decrease from the 14.9 rating for Cowboys/Eagles last year, which aired on FOX. CBS also saw its first decline of the season in the 1:00 PM window, as regional action fell 11% from last year.
- The SEC soared for CBS on Saturday. The battle between Florida and LSU drew a 5.7 overnight Saturday night, up 78% from the 3.2 overnight for the game between the same two teams in an earlier timeslot last year. The 4.1 average for the SEC doubleheader on CBS marked a 37% increase from the 3.2 average for a doubleheader last year.
- FOX: A 6% decline for NFL on FOX coverage in the 1:00 PM window. More worrisome: FOX NFL Sunday fell 9%, while The NFL Today rose 8%.
- ABC: The alphabet network can thank horrible ratings last year for big ratings increases this year. Regional coverage featuring Texas/Oklahoma during the 3:30 PM window drew 5.0 rating on Saturday, up 52% from a 3.3 rating for the same game last year. Saturday Night Football drew a paltry 3.3, thanks to a pair of relatively uninspiring games; still, the rating marked a 50% increase over the 2.2 overnight for the comparable game last year. For the weekend, ABC saw a 50% increase in ratings.
Other.
4.2: NASCAR on ABC, UAW-Ford 500 (2:00 PM Sunday)
1.6: NASCAR Countdown on ABC (1:00 PM Sunday)
1.5/3: World Gymnastics Championships on NBC (4:00 PM Sunday)
0.7/2: Champions Tour on NBC, Senior Players Championship, Third round (2:00 PM Saturday)
0.6/1: Champions Tour on NBC, Senior Players Championship, Final round (2:00 PM Sunday)
- The 4.2 for NASCAR on ABC Sunday marked the first time this year that a Chase for the Cup race broke a 4.0 rating. The 4.2 was a 2% from the 4.3 rating for the same race last year, making this the second straight week of declining NASCAR ratings.
