Week 1 of the NFL season was very good to NBC.
Sunday’s Cowboys/Washington Sunday Night Football game drew a 16.6 overnight rating on NBC, up 24% from Bears/Packers last year (13.4), up 28% from Bears/Colts in 2008 (13.0) and up 22% from Giants/Cowboys in 2007 (13.6).
Overnight ratings peaked at a 17.9 from 11:30-11:45 PM ET.
The 16.6 overnight is the second-highest for a regular season NFL game on NBC since the network reacquired the rights in 2006, behind only Thursday’s Vikings/Saints Kickoff Game (17.7).
Additionally, the 16.6 is the second-highest overnight for any primetime regular season NFL game dating back to 1997 — again, behind only Thursday’s Vikings/Saints game.
Overall, NBC averaged a 17.1 overnight for its two NFL games during Week 1, up 26% from last year’s 13.6.
To put the numbers in perspective, only once during the previous four seasons had NBC drawn at least a 16.0 overnight for regular season NFL coverage.
