For the fifth time in only six weeks, NFL action attracted over 25 million television viewers.
FOX earned a 15.7 final rating and 25.982 million viewers for Sunday’s Cowboys/Vikings game, up 8% in ratings and 9% in viewership from Week 6 last year (TEN/NE*: 14.6, 23.946 mil, CBS), and up 7% and 10%, respectively, from Week 6 in 2008 (DAL/AZ*: 14.7, 23.653 mil, FOX).
Cowboys/Vikings earned the fourth-largest audience of the NFL season, behind the Week 2 national window on CBS (16.2, 27.010 mil), the Vikings/Saints NFL Kickoff Game on NBC (16.5, 27.485 mil), and the Week 1 national window on FOX (16.5, 28.023 mil).
This marks the fifth time this season that an NFL telecast has drawn over 25 million viewers. To put that in perspective, nine telecasts all of last season topped 25 million — and just two years ago, only three telecasts for the entire season hit that mark.
Ratings and viewership have now improved for five of the six NFL national windows this season.
Sunday’s telecast topped Sunday Night Football on NBC (11.7, 19.115 mil), marking the 14th straight week dating back to last season that the NFL national window has topped SNF.
Keep in mind Sunday’s telecast was blacked out to Cablevision subscribers due to a dispute between the cable operator and FOX parent company News Corporation.
Asterisk (*) indicates featured game of window.
