Television ratings for the NFL on FOX continued to decline in Week 4 of the season.
The Week 3 NFL singleheader window, featuring 49ers/Cardinals in 27% of markets, drew an 11.8 final rating and 20.6 million viewers on FOX last Sunday — down 6% in ratings and 2% in viewership from coverage featuring Packers/Bengals last year (12.5, 20.9M) but up 5% and 12%, respectively, from coverage featuring Buccaneers/Cowboys in 2012 (11.2, 18.4M).
So far this season, all four NFL on FOX telecasts have had declines from last year. FOX is the only NFL broadcast partner that has not had at least one increase.
It should be noted that three of the four FOX telecasts have generated increases over 2012.
The FOX singleheader drew the second-largest audience of Week 3, trailing only the national window on CBS (27.3M) and topping NBC’s Sunday Night Football (19.8M). It is rare, though far from unprecedented, for the singleheader to top SNF.
(Sun. numbers from Nielsen)
