Sunday Night Football viewership hit a multi-decade high in Week 10.
NBC’s Sunday Night Football (Vikings-Cowboys) averaged a 12.9 rating and 22.99 million viewers over the weekend, marking the largest primetime Week 10 audience since at least 1997.
The previous high was 22.54 million for Packers-Steelers on ABC’s Monday Night Football in 1998.
Minnesota’s win, which peaked with 24.3 million viewers from 9:30-9:45 PM ET, also tied the highest primetime rating in Week 10 since 2009 (Patriots-Colts: 13.7).
For the season, it ranks second among primetime games behind Cowboys-Saints on NBC in Week 4 (13.7, 24.11M).
Regardless of window, it ranks eighth in ratings and seventh in viewership this season. Dallas has played in four of the top eight, matching New Orleans as the most of any team.
Ratings increased 12% and viewership 14% from last year (Cowboys-Eagles: 11.5, 20.10M) and 26% and 31% respectively from 2017 (Patriots-Broncos: 10.2, 17.51M). Sunday Night Football has now hit multi-year highs in three of the past four weeks.
Including a streaming audience of 530,000 (+58%), the game averaged 23.5 million viewers (+15%). SNF is now averaging 20.8 million viewers including streaming (+5%), its highest at this point of the season since 2015.
Minneapolis-St. Paul led all markets Sunday night with a 39.3 rating and 64 share. Dallas-Ft. Worth ranked second at a 35.4/55, followed by Cowboys secondary markets San Antonio (25.5/41) and Austin, Tex. (24.2/42). Houston rounded out the top five at an 18.6/33.
As noted in a Monday press release, Vikings-Cowboys was the 100th Sunday Night Football game this decade to exceed 20 million viewers. No other television series this decade has cracked the 20 million mark more than 69 times (American Idol).
SNF drew a 6.7 rating in adults 18-49 (+3%), its highest in Week 10 since 2016 (7.7). It also had a 4.8 in adults 18-34, actually down a tick from last year (4.9) and tied as the series’ lowest in Week 10 since ESPN last held rights in 2005 (3.7).
[Nielsen estimates from NBC Sports, ShowBuzz Daily 11.12]
