Sunday Night Football featured a battle between NFC East rivals in the #1 and #5 markets, with both teams dealing with heavy media scrutiny over the preceding weeks. The result was a match made in ratings heaven.
The Cowboys’ win over the Giants on Sunday drew a 13.7/21 final rating and 23.1 million viewers on NBC Sunday night, up 44% and 58% respectively from a 9.5 and 14.6 million for last year’s comparable Washington/Giants game.
The 13.7 rating is the third best in the history of Sunday Night Football, and the 23.1 million viewers is the second best for an NFL telecast on NBC since the network began airing games again in 2006 (the top game was a Christmas afternoon matchup between the Cowboys and Eagles).
So far this season, NBC is averaging a 10.1 rating and 16.5 million viewers for 15 NFL telecasts, up flat in ratings and up 3% in viewers from a 10.1 and 16 million through the comparable point last year. The 10.1 rating also marks a 9% decline from an 11.1 through the comparable point of the 2006 season.
Highest rated NFL telecasts on NBC.
since 2006
14.3: Colts/Giants (Sun., 9/10/06, 8:15 PM NBC)
14.0: Colts/Patriots (Sun., 11/5/06, 8:15 PM NBC)
13.7: Giants/Cowboys (Sun., 12/14/08, 8:15 PM NBC)
13.4: Eagles/Patriots (Sun., 11/25/07, 8:15 PM NBC)
13.3: Cowboys/Packers (Sun., 9/21/08, 8:15 PM NBC)
