The Cowboys’ on-field failures are beginning to affect the ratings.
NBC earned an 11.6 final rating and 19.368 million viewers for the Packers’ 45-7 win over the 1-7 Cowboys Sunday night, down 12% in ratings and viewership from Week 9 last year (DAL/PHI: 13.1, 21.883 mil), but up 9% and 16%, respectively, from Week 9 in 2008 (NE/IND: 10.6, 16.741 mil).
At the time of last year’s Cowboys/Eagles game, Dallas had a considerably better 5-2 record.
The 11.6 rating is tied as the fourth-lowest for a Sunday night Cowboys game since NBC began airing Sunday night games in 2006 (15 telecasts), ahead of only Cowboys/Panthers in ’06 (11.2), Cowboys/Washington last year (10.9), and Cowboys/Eagles in ’07 (10.2).
This marks just the second time this season that NBC has had declines in ratings or viewership for NFL coverage, and the first time that the network has suffered double-digit declines.
Despite the decline, Sunday’s telecast was up from Steelers/Saints one week earlier (10.8, 18.106 mil), which faced the World Series on FOX.
Additionally, the telecast was the second-highest rated, second-most viewed primetime program of the week on broadcast, and ranked #1 among adults 18-49 (7.4) and all other key adult and male demographics.
Through Week 9, NBC is averaging a 12.8 rating and 21.3 million viewers for NFL coverage, up 8% in ratings and 9% in viewership from last year (11.8, 19.5 mil), and up 27% and 33%, respectively, from 2008 (9.9, 16.0 mil).
Viewership for Sunday Night Football is the highest for any NFL primetime package at this point of the season since 1996.
