Week 4 of the NFL season was forgettable for CBS.
The Week 4 NFL singleheader window drew an 8.2 final rating and 13.3 million viewers on CBS last Sunday, down 8% in ratings from last year (8.9), and down 41% and 43%, respectively, from coverage on FOX featuring Lions/Cowboys in 2011 (14.0, 23.3M).
The telecast ranks as the lowest rated and least-viewed NFL singleheader of the young season.
CBS was hamstrung last week by a fairly weak slate of games. As Awful Announcing noted, four of the network’s five games involved a sub-.500 team, including a battle of 0-3 teams between the Steelers and Vikings.
As is usually the case, the singleheader has been a much bigger draw on FOX than on CBS. The two FOX telecasts have drawn ratings of 12.8 (Week 2) and 12.5 (Week 3), compared to ratings of 9.5 (Week 1) and 8.2 (Week 4) on CBS.
CBS has averaged a 10.4 rating and 17.0 million viewers through Week 4, according to Sports Business Daily — up 2% in ratings and 1% in viewership from last year (10.2, 16.8M).
(Week 4 numbers/season avg. from Sports Business Daily [1], [2]; additional info from Awful Announcing)
