Moved to 7:00 PM to accommodate the Republican National Convention, the traditional Thursday night kickoff to the NFL season tumbled in the ratings.
NBC drew a 10.1/17 overnight rating for coverage of Washington against the New York Giants last night, down 22% from a 13.0/21 for Saints/Colts in a later timeslot last year, and the lowest rating for the NFL Kickoff game since the 2002 49ers/Giants opener, which aired on cable.
To put the 10.1 overnight in perspective, The Belmont Stakes averaged a 10.5, the first nine innings of the MLB All Star Game averaged a 11.0/18, and no NBA Finals game drew an overnight lower than 10.2. Additionally, the lowest final rating for NBC’s prime time coverage of the Beijing Olympics was a 10.2.
Ratings peaked at an 11.6/18 from 9:30-10 PM. The prime time portion of the game (8-10 PM) averaged 13.6 million viewers and a 5.4/15 rating among adults 18-49.
NBC News benefited from the NFL lead-in, as the network’s coverage of the Republican National Convention drew the most viewers among the three major broadcast networks covering the event (FOX does not provide convention coverage).
