The much-hyped return of Peyton Manning to Indianapolis earned one of the largest audiences ever for “Sunday Night Football” on NBC.
The Week 7 Broncos/Colts “Sunday Night Football” game drew a 15.9 final rating and 26.9 million viewers on NBC, up 49% in ratings and 54% in viewership from Steelers/Bengals last year (10.7, 17.5M), and up 109% and 116%, respectively, from Colts/Saints in 2011 (7.6, 12.5M).
Last year’s game aired opposite Game 6 of the NLCS; the 2011 game aired opposite Game 4 of the World Series. This year’s game had no such competition.
Broncos/Colts ranks as the highest rated and most-viewed game of the season on NBC, topping the previous highs of 15.0 and 25.4 million for Cowboys/Giants in Week 1. Overall, the game ranks fourth for the season in ratings and viewership, trailing three NFL national window telecasts — Packers/49ers on FOX in Week 1 (16.6, 28.5M), Broncos/Cowboys on CBS in Week 5 (16.6, 28.3M), and Eagles/Broncos on FOX in Week 4 (16.1, 27.0M).
Sunday’s game also ranks as the fifth-highest rated and sixth-most viewed regular season telecast on NBC since the network resumed airing games in 2006, and the most-viewed primetime NFL telecast on any network during the month of October since 1992 — when a Monday night Cowboys/Eagles game scored 33.0 million on ABC.
Among adults 18-49, Broncos/Colts drew a 10.0 rating — up 49% from last year (6.7), and up 92% from 2011 (5.2).
On the strength of Sunday’s game, NBC is now trending above last year’s numbers. The network has averaged 22.7 million viewers for NFL coverage through Week 7 — up 5% from last year.
(Week 7 numbers from Nielsen, Media Life Magazine, NBC Sports Group Press Box)
