CBS had a rough outing for the NFL national window last week.
The Week 5 NFL national window, featuring Chiefs/49ers in 54% of markets, drew an 11.5 final rating and 19.7 million viewers on CBS — down 31% in ratings and viewership from Broncos/Cowboys last year (16.6, 28.3M) and down 21% and 20%, respectively, from coverage featuring Broncos/Patriots in 2012 (14.5, 24.5M).
Excluding Week 17 of the season, when there are two national window telecasts, Sunday’s coverage ranks as the lowest rated NFL national window since Week 3 in 2009 (10.9) and the least-viewed since Week 9 that same year (19.3M). Both of those telecasts, it should be noted, aired on CBS.
Usually the top NFL telecast of a given week — and by a wide margin — the NFL national window drew a lower rating than Sunday Night Football (11.7) and could only match the singleheader on FOX. It was still the most-watched NFL window of the week, barely edging both SNF (19.4M) and the singleheader (19.3M).
Overall, this year’s Week 5 marks the first time in more than five years — since the aforementioned Week 3 of the 2009 season — that no NFL telecast has drawn at least 20 million viewers.
CBS had much better results earlier in the day. The first half of its doubleheader drew an 8.8 and 14.7 million viewers, up 26% in ratings and 31% in viewership from last year (7.0, 11.2M) and up 16% and 22%, respectively, from 2012 (7.6, 12.0M).
(Sun. numbers from Nielsen)
