The 2011-12 NFL regular season ended with a thud on FOX.
The Week 17 NFL regional window on FOX, featuring Buccaneers/Falcons in 89% of markets, earned a shockingly low 4.5 final rating and 7.662 million viewers January 1 — down 53% in ratings and 52% in viewership from the network’s Week 17 regional window last season (TB/NO*: 9.6, 16.083M), and down 53% and 51%, respectively, from Week 17 in the 2009-10 season (NYG/MIN: 9.6, 15.617M).
The 4.5 rating is the lowest in recent memory for an NFL game on broadcast television. Amazingly, this was not the first time during the season that an NFL game on broadcast drew less than a 5.0 rating; CBS earned a 4.9 for the Week 15 regional window.
Earlier in the day, the network’s Week 17 national window — featuring Panthers/Saints in 59% of markets — drew an 11.6 and 19.596 million viewers, down 21% in ratings and 25% in viewership from last season (CHI/GB*: 14.7, 26.147M), and down 24% and 26%, respectively, from the 2009-10 season (PHI/DAL*: 15.2, 26.453M).
(Week 17 numbers from Media Life Magazine; Week 15 numbers from Austin Karp, Sports Business Daily)
