The NFL’s most prominent teams getting upset at home was just what the doctor ordered for FOX.
The Week 4 NFL singleheader window, featuring either Rams-Cowboys or Panthers-Patriots in 49% of markets, earned an 11.5 rating and 20.1 million viewers on FOX Sunday — up 22% in ratings and viewership from last year (9.4, 16.4M) and up 20% and 27% respectively from 2015 (9.6, 15.8M), both of which aired on CBS.
It was the highest rated and most-watched Week 4 singleheader since 2011 (14.0, 23.3M), and easily the top singleheader of the young season. The singleheader is the only window this season that has grown in each successive week.
In a rarity, the singleheader was the top NFL telecast of the week — cruising past the second-place finisher, NBC’s Sunday Night Football (9.6, 16.7M).
All four NFL telecasts this season to feature the Cowboys, either nationally or in a plurality of markets, have posted an increase in ratings and/or viewership. By comparison, only five of the 21 other NFL windows have increased in either measure.
Earlier in the day, the Saints-Dolphins London game had a 4.0 and 6.4 million — down 17% in ratings and viewership from Colts-Jaguars last year (4.8, 7.7M) and down 38% and 35% respectively from Jets-Dolphins in 2015 (6.4, 9.9M), both on CBS. Since the NFL began broadcasting 9:30 AM ET games from London three years ago, it was the lowest rated and least-watched of those games on broadcast television (six telecasts).
[Wknd. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily 10.3]
