Jim Nantz may be clairvoyant.
The heavily-hyped match-up between the undefeated New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts drew a 22.5/39 overnight rating on CBS Sunday afternoon, marking the highest overnight for an NFL game in 21 years. The 22.5 is a 52% jump over the 14.8 overnight for the comparable game last year, Broncos/Steelers. Compared to the regular season battle between the Patriots and Colts last year, which was also played during Week 9, the 22.5 is a 49% increase from a 15.1 rating.
CBS averaged 32.7 million viewers during the final half-hour of the game, with an 11.4 rating among adults 18-49. By comparison, a NASCAR race on ABC averaged 9 million viewers during the same time period.
To put the 22.5 overnight in perspective, no Major League Baseball game has drawn an overnight of 20+ since Game 7 of the World Series in 2001, while no NBA game has reached that plateau since Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals. The 22.5 is slightly below the 22.7 ABC drew for its coverage of the 2006 Rose Bowl between Texas and USC.
CBS finished first for the night in total viewers. NBC won the night in the adults 18-49 demo, thanks to Sunday Night Football. The game between the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles drew 13.9 million viewers, according to preliminary numbers.
