Though tied atop the NFL Week 7 ratings charts, better numbers could have been expected for the Falcons-Patriots Super Bowl rematch.
Falcons-Patriots delivered a 12.6 overnight rating on NBC’s Sunday Night Football last night, up 9% from Seahawks-Cardinals last year (11.6) but down 7% from Eagles-Panthers in 2015 (13.6).
The 12.6 is tied with Packers-Falcons on NBC in Week 2 as the NFL’s highest primetime overnight since Week 1. NBC has now posted increases in three straight weeks.
Even so, the 12.6 pales in comparison to previous Super Bowl rematches. Last year’s Panthers-Broncos rematch had a 16.5 and Broncos-Seahawks had a 16.9 in 2014. Keep in mind those games aired in higher rated windows — the NFL Kickoff and the late doubleheader windows, respectively.
It also ranks as the lowest overnight for a Patriots game on NBC since New England embarrassed the Jets on Thanksgiving 2012 (11.5).
Falcons-Patriots tied for top honors on Sunday, matching the NFL national window on CBS. That telecast, which featured a Bengals-Steelers ‘flex’ game in 63% of markets, slipped 8% from last year (13.7) and 20% from 2015 (15.8), which featured considerably higher-profile matchups — Patriots-Steelers and Cowboys-Giants, respectively.
As noted by Sports Business Daily, the 12.6 is tied as the lowest for the Week 7 national window in at least a decade.
In a rarity, the national window on CBS had to compete with a Cowboys game on FOX in more than a third of markets. The competition helped sink both windows, with the FOX singleheader (featuring Cowboys-Falcons in 36% of markets) down 5% from a 10.2 to a 9.7.
Rounding out the weekend, the early doubleheader window pulled an 8.5 on CBS, off 6%.
[Wknd. numbers via Sports Business Daily 10.23]
