Ratings: NFL on FOX, USC-Notre Dame, EPL

The Cowboys could not save last week’s NFL singleheader ratings. In other news, USC-Notre Dame was less of a draw than in previous years, and NBC drew its smallest Premier League audience in several years.

NFL Singleheader Ratings Drop Despite Cowboys

The Week 7 NFL singleheader window, featuring Cowboys-49ers or Saints-Packers in most of the country, had a 9.5 rating and 16.1 million viewers on FOX last Sunday — down 6% in ratings and 5% in viewership from last year (10.1, 16.9M) and down 18% and 16% respectively from 2015 on CBS (11.6, 19.2M). It was the first Cowboys telecast all season to post a decline.

USC-Notre Dame Down Big From Previous Meetings

Last Saturday’s USC-Notre Dame college football game had a 1.8 rating and 3.0 million viewers on NBC, flat in ratings and up 4% in viewership from the team’s fourth home game last season, against Stanford (1.8, 2.9M), and up a tick and 13% respectively from the fourth home game in 2015, against Navy (1.7, 2.6M).

Compared to previous USC-Notre Dame games, this year’s matchup declined 47% in ratings and 48% in viewership from last year on ABC (3.4, 5.7M) and 28% and 25% respectively from 2015 on NBC (2.5, 3.6M). It was the rivals’ lowest rated and least-watched meeting since 2014 on FOX (1.3, 2.0M).

NBC Posts Lowest EPL Audience in Several Years

NBC scored a 0.39 rating and 546,000 viewers for last Saturday’s Southampton-West Brom English Premier League match, down 30% in ratings and 36% in viewership from last year (Liverpool-West Brom: 0.56, 851K) and the network’s least-watched EPL match in at least four years.

On Sunday, NBCSN scored a 0.35 (-5%) and 525,000 (-13%) for Tottenham-Liverpool and a 0.22 (+5%) and 347,000 (+8%) for Everton-Arsenal. The network also scored a 0.31 (+24%) and 467,000 (+14%) for Huddersfield-Manchester United Saturday morning.

Figures for last weekend’s other EPL matches were not immediately available.

Tags: 49ers TV Ratings CFB on NBC CFB TV Ratings Cowboys TV Ratings Final Ratings NFL on FOX NFL Ratings 2017 NFL Singleheader Notre Dame on NBC Notre Dame Ratings Pac-12 TV Ratings Packers TV Ratings Premier League on NBC Premier League Ratings Saints TV Ratings USC Trojans Ratings

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Jon Lewis

Jon Lewis has been covering the sports media industry on a daily basis since 2006 as the founder and main writer of Sports Media Watch. You can contact him here or on the social media websites X (Twitter) or Bluesky.