With Peyton Manning retired, a matchup of his former teams did not do particularly well on CBS.
The Week 2 NFL national window, featuring Colts/Broncos in 74% of markets, earned a 12.2 final rating and 21.4 million viewers on CBS Sunday afternoon — down 21% in ratings and viewership from Cowboys/Eagles on FOX last year (15.5, 27.2M) and down 15% and 14%, respectively, from coverage featuring Chiefs/Broncos on CBS in 2014 (14.4, 24.9M).
The telecast ranks as the least-watched Week 2 national window since 2012 (19.9M) and is tied as the lowest rated since 2007. Excluding Week 17, when both FOX and CBS air doubleheaders, it was the least-watched national window in any week of the season since Week 8 in 2014 (20.7M) and tied as the lowest rated since Week 5 the same year (11.5).
The first half of Sunday’s doubleheader scored 14.4 million viewers — down 6% from last year on FOX (15.3M) but up 10% from 2014 on CBS (13.1M). Ratings dropped 8% from last year (9.20 to 8.45).
Including Thursday Night Football, all four NFL telecasts on CBS this year have posted declines, and three of the four have hit multi-year lows.
(Wknd. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily 9/20)
