Despite featuring marquee franchises and close finishes, both of Sunday’s ‘win and you’re in’ NFL games declined in the overnights.
The Week 17 Eagles/Cowboys “Sunday Night Football” game drew a 16.8 overnight rating on NBC, down 8% from Cowboys/Washington last year (18.3), and down 7% from Giants/Cowboys in 2011 (18.0). The 16.8 is the lowest for “SNF” in Week 17 since Rams/Seahawks in 2010 (12.6), but still ranks as the ninth-highest overnight for any regular season game on the network since it resumed coverage in 2006.
For the season, Eagles/Cowboys was NBC’s third-highest rated game in the metered markets, trailing only Broncos/Colts in Week 7 (17.3) and Broncos/Patriots in Week 12 (17.0).
The day’s other winner-take-all game had a similar decline. The Week 17 national window on FOX, featuring Packers/Bears in 63% of markets, earned a 15.2 overnight — down 7% from coverage featuring Packers/Vikings last year (16.4), but up 27% from coverage featuring Buccaneers/Falcons in 2009 (11.9).
FOX also had a decline for its early game coverage, which earned a 10.5 overnight — down 3% from last year (10.8), but up 75% from 2011 (6.0).
While FOX and NBC had declines, CBS saw increases for both games of its Week 17 doubleheader. The network’s national window, featuring Ravens/Bengals in 62% of markets, drew a 12.0 overnight — up 8% from coverage featuring Texans/Colts last year (11.1), but down 26% from coverage featuring Chiefs/Broncos in 2011 (16.1).
The network’s late window drew a 10.7 overnight, up 32% from last year (8.1), and up a tick from 2011 (10.6).
(Week 17 overnights from Sports Business Daily)
