Sunday Night Football scored the NFL’s highest Week 4 overnight rating in four years.
Cowboys-Saints averaged a 15.5 overnight rating on NBC’s Sunday Night Football last night, the highest Week 4 NFL overnight since a 2015 national window on FOX (mostly Packers-49ers: 16.4), and the highest Week 4 SNF overnight since 2012 (Giants-Eagles: 15.6).
The Saints’ narrow win, which peaked at a 16.7 from 9:30-9:45 PM ET, increased 26% over Ravens-Steelers last year (12.3) and 41% from Colts-Seahawks in 2017 (11.0).
Compared to last year’s game between the Cowboys and Saints, which took place in Week 13 and aired on Thursday Night Football, overnights increased 6% from a 14.6.
Versus the last Cowboys-Saints game on NBC, in Week 4 of the 2015 season, overnights rose 5% from a 14.8.
Earlier in the day, the NFL national window (Vikings-Bears in 88% of markets) averaged a 13.0 on CBS — its highest in Week 4 since 2016 on FOX (mostly Cowboys-49ers: 14.8). Overnights rose 6% from last year (mostly Saints-Giants: 12.3) and 20% from 2017 (Raiders-Broncos: 10.8).
CBS also averaged a 9.3 for regional coverage featuring Patriots-Bills in 57% of markets, up a tick from last year (9.2), up 15% from 2017 (8.1), and the highest in Week 4 since 2015 on FOX (mostly Giants-Bills: 9.7).
The exception to the run of multi-year highs was FOX, which posted its first decline of the season. The network averaged a 10.8 for singleheader coverage featuring Chiefs-Lions or Buccaneers-Rams in most markets — the lowest in Week 4 since 2016 on CBS (10.6).
Overnights fell 8% from last year (11.7) and 14% from 2017 (12.6), with the caveat that those windows featured the Cowboys — against the Lions last year and against the Rams two years ago.
[Nielsen estimates from NBC Sports, CBS Sports, Fox Sports]
