Week 17 of the NFL regular season was a mixed bag in the overnight ratings, with FOX and CBS scoring increases and NBC’s Sunday Night Football hitting a 12-year low.
FOX earned a 13.5 overnight rating for the second half of its Week 17 NFL doubleheader, featuring Bears-Vikings in 49% of markets — up 2% from last year (mostly Panthers-Falcons: 13.2) but down 5% from 2016 (mostly Giants-Washington: 14.2).
The 13.5 was the highest of the Week 17, topping competing coverage on CBS.
The CBS telecast, which featured Browns-Ravens in 52% of markets, had a 10.7 — up 14% from last year (ft. Bengals-Ravens: 9.4) and up 51% from 2016 (7.1). The 10.7 is the highest for CBS in Week 17 since 2015.
The combined 24.2 overnight on FOX and CBS is the highest for the Week 17 late games since 2015 (25.1).
Earlier in the day, FOX scored a 9.9 for regional coverage featuring Cowboys-Giants — up 29% from last year (mostly Bears-Vikings: 7.7) and even with 2016 (mostly Cowboys-Eagles). The competing window on CBS had just a 5.9 (-17%).
Shifting to primetime, NBC scored a 10.7 for Colts-Titans on Sunday Night Football — down 22% from Packers-Lions two years ago (13.7). NBC did not air a Week 17 game last year.
The 10.7 is the lowest for the Week 17 primetime game since 2008, when NBC drew an 10.6 for Chargers-Broncos.
It is also NBC’s second-lowest overnight of the season, ahead of only Saints-Vikings opposite the World Series in Week 8 (9.7).
Despite the weak finish, NBC ended the season averaging a 12.8 rating in the metered markets (+8%). FOX averaged an 11.7 (+4%) and CBS averaged a 10.9 (+8%).
CORRECTION: Original version of this post said Titans-Colts was the lowest Week 17 primetime game since 2006. It was actually the lowest since 2008.
[Numbers from NBC Sports, Fox Sports, CBS Sports; additional info from Sports Business Daily 12.31]
