Sunday Night Football posted its lowest Week 2 rating in 12 years.
Eagles-Falcons averaged a 10.3 rating and 17.64 million viewers on NBC’s Sunday Night Football over the weekend, marking the lowest rated and least-watched Week 2 edition of SNF since 2007 (Chargers-Patriots: 9.8, 15.32M). The previous lows were a 10.8 and 17.84 million for Steelers-Browns in 2008.
Atlanta’s narrow win declined 12% in ratings and 15% in viewership from Giants-Cowboys last year (11.7, 20.66M) and 9% and 13% respectively from Packers-Falcons in 2017 (11.3, 20.24M).
Of the Falcons’ last fourteen primetime games (dating back to 2014), 11 have declined in ratings and 12 have declined in viewership. The exceptions are their Thanksgiving night loss to the Saints last season, a Super Bowl 51 rematch against New England in 2017, and the 2014 Monday Night Football opener against the Eagles.
Philadelphia led all markets for Sunday’s game with a 32.6 rating and a 51 share (meaning 51% of TVs in use were tuned to the game). Atlanta ranked a distant second with a 22.3/40. New Orleans was the top neutral market (19.6/28), with Milwaukee (15.4/26) and Albuquerque, N.M. (15.3/26) rounding out the top five.
SNF averaged a 5.8 rating in adults 18-49, down 17% from last year (7.0), down 18% from 2017 (7.1), and the lowest in Week 2 of the season since 2005 — the final season the series aired on ESPN (Chiefs-Raiders: 4.5). Its 4.0 in adults 18-34 was also the lowest since 2005 (3.8), and its 7.0 in adults 25-54 was the lowest since 2007 (6.9).
The full list of Week 2 NFL ratings is available here.
[Nielsen estimates from ShowBuzz Daily 9.17 a, b; additional info from NBC Sports]
