Overnight (metered market) ratings by sport:
Football.
18.4/33: NFL on CBS, Steelers/Patriots (4:15 PM Sunday)
13.9: NFL on FOX, regional (1 PM Sunday)
9.5/15: Sunday Night Football on NBC, Colts/Ravens (8:15 PM Sunday)
9.0/18: NFL on CBS, regional (1 PM Sunday)
5.4/9: Football Night in America on NBC (7:30 PM Sunday)
2.7/7: The NFL Today on CBS (12 PM Sunday)
- CBS: The New England Patriots have been a boon to CBS this season. The top three overnights of the regular season were all Patriots games on CBS, including Sunday’s Pats/Steelers tilt. The 18.4 rating for the Patriots’ victory marks a 34% jump over the 13.7 rating for the comparable Broncos/Chargers game in ’06. So far this season, CBS has had three NFL games draw overnight ratings of 18 or higher.
- While the Patriots helped CBS to big ratings, regional match-ups in the 1:00 PM window were far less of a draw. The 9.0 rating for early game coverage on CBS marks a 14% drop from a 10.5 rating last year.
- FOX: While Steelers/Patriots was the big ratings winner of the day, FOX drew strong numbers for its NFL coverage. The 13.9 rating for single game coverage on the network is a 22% increase over the 11.4 rating for comparable coverage last year. The 13.9 rating is the highest of the year so far for NFL coverage during the 1:00 PM window.
- NBC: A dud of a Sunday night match-up gave NBC mediocre ratings. The 9.5 for Colts/Ravens marks a 29% drop from a 13.4 rating for Saints/Cowboys last year.
Basketball.
1.7/4: College basketball on CBS, Kentucky/Indiana (4 PM Saturday)
1.4/3: College basketball on CBS, Michigan/Duke (2 PM Saturday)
- The return of college basketball drew mixed numbers on CBS. The 1.7 rating for Kentucky/Indiana was up 13% from a 1.5 for the same game last year, thanks in part to airing in a better timeslot (last year’s game had a 12 PM start). Meanwhile, the 1.4 overnight for Wolverines/Blue Devils was down 18% from a 1.7 rating for UCLA/Texas A&M in the comparable timeslot last year. For the weekend, CBS averaged a 1.6 rating for college basketball, identical to 2006.
Golf.
1.3/3: Golf on NBC, Merrill Lynch Shootout, Second Round (4 PM Saturday)
1.0/2: Golf on NBC, Merrill Lynch Shootout, Final Round (3 PM Sunday)
- The 1.2 average for coverage of the Merrill Lynch Shootout was up 9% over the comparable golf event last year — the WGA Barbados World Cup last year, which aired on ABC.
Other.
0.7/2: Championship Off Road Racing on NBC (2:30 PM Saturday)
0.5/1: Skiing on NBC, USSA Aspen Winternational, Women’s Downhill (2 PM Sunday)
- The 0.5 overnight for the USSA Aspen ‘Winternational’ marks a 58% drop from coverage of the Alpine World Cup on the comparable date last year. Perhaps the name ‘Winternational’ caused viewers to switch.
