The second Sunday Night Football game of the season managed a modest increase in ratings and viewership.
The Week 2 Bears/49ers Sunday Night Football game drew a 12.9 final rating and 22.2 million viewers on NBC, up 6% in ratings and 8% in viewership from a delayed 49ers/Seahawks game last year (12.2, 20.5M) and flat and up 4%, respectively, compared to Lions/49ers in 2012 (12.9, 21.3M).
The Bears’ comeback victory earned the largest Week 2 audience on NBC since Eagles/Falcons in 2011 (23.4M). As NBC noted in a Tuesday press release, Bears/49ers also earned the largest audience ever for a Sunday night game on the West Coast — a distinction that leaves out the West Coast games on ABC’s Monday Night Football.
Among adults 18-49, the game had an 8.5 rating — up a tick from last year (8.4) but down 5% from 2012 (8.9).
Chicago was the top market with a 31.8 rating, followed by Sacramento (28.6) and the Bay Area (27.0). The 27.0 in the Bay Area ranks as the highest local rating for a primetime 49ers game since 2003. Las Vegas (20.9) and San Diego (19.9) rounded out the top five.
NBC has averaged 24.2 million viewers for Sunday Night Football through Week 2, up 1% from last year (23.9).
(Sun. numbers from NBC Sports Group Press Box; additional info from Media Life Magazine)
