Not surprisingly, the battle between America’s team and the defending Super Bowl champions drew strong ratings.
The Giants’ victory over the Cowboys drew a 16.8/31 overnight rating on FOX Sunday evening, down 25% from a 22.5/39 for Patriots/Colts last year, but the highest overnight rating for an NFL game this season.
So far this season, three of the four highest NFL overnights have been for games involving the Dallas Cowboys.
Early game coverage on FOX drew a solid 9.7/20 overnight, down 11% from a 10.9 for single game coverage last year. Meanwhile, CBS drew a 9.5/19 for its sole NFL telecast on Sunday, down 9% from a 10.4 in ’07.
With FOX and CBS both seeing declining ratings, NBC was the lone NFL rightsholder to see its numbers rise on Sunday. Sunday Night Football, between the Patriots and Colts, drew an 11.9/18 overnight on NBC, up 4% from an 11.5 for Cowboys/Eagles last year.
Highest overnight ratings for NFL games this season.
16.8: Cowboys/Giants (Sun., 11/2, 4:15 PM FOX)
16.1: Cowboys/Cardinals (Sun., 10/12, 4:15 PM FOX)
15.6: Giants/Steelers (Sun., 10/26, 4:15 PM FOX)
15.3: Washington/Cowboys (Sun., 9/28, 4:15 PM FOX)
15.2: Patriots/Jets (Sun., 9/14, 4:15 PM CBS)
