CBS neared a season-high — and FOX did well too — on an NFL Sunday that brought yet more declines to NBC’s Sunday Night Football.
Last Sunday’s NFL national window (49ers-Patriots or Chiefs-Broncos in 91% of markets) averaged a 12.4 rating and 22.90 million viewers on CBS, marking the third-highest rating and fourth-largest audience of the season.
Ratings declined 7% and viewership 1% from Week 7 last year (mostly Saints-Bears: 13.3, 23.04M), which was one week earlier on the calendar. Versus the same October weekend of last year — Week 8 — ratings increased 3% and viewership 9% from coverage that featured Browns-Patriots (12.0, 21.03M).
In the first game of the CBS doubleheader, coverage featuring Steelers-Titans in 87% of markets averaged an 8.15 (+16%) and 14.53 million (+22%) — the highest for the early doubleheader window all season.
Over on FOX, singleheader coverage featuring Buccaneers-Raiders or Packers-Texans in most markets averaged an 8.7 and 15.88 million — up 9% in ratings and 20% in viewership from Week 7 last year (mostly Raiders-Packers: 8.0, 13.24M). The window averaged an additional 455,000 on Fox Sports digital platforms (+28%).
The strong daytime performance did not carry into primetime. Opposite Game 5 of the World Series, NBC’s Sunday Night Football (Seahawks-Cardinals) averaged a 7.9 and 14.31 million — the lowest for the series in Week 7 of the season since Saints 62, Colts 7 in 2011 (7.6, 12.47M). It was also the lowest rated and least-watched SNF game opposite the World Series since that 2011 rout.
Ratings fell 35% and viewership 33% from Eagles-Cowboys in Week 7 last year (12.2, 21.45M). Keep in mind last year’s head-to-head between SNF and the World Series took place in Week 8. Compared to that game — Packers-Chiefs — ratings still fell 24% (from 10.4) and viewership 22% (from 18.32M).
SNF still blew out Game 5 of the World Series by 49% in ratings (7.9 to 5.3) and 42% in viewership (14.31M to 10.06M) and by at least 65 percent in each of the key adult demographics, though those margins were slimmer than last year. The 42% viewership advantage is the third-biggest for SNF opposite the World Series in 11 head-to-head matchups.
SNF has now failed to crack a 9.0 rating in four straight weeks, the longest such streak since ESPN last held rights in 2005. Keep in mind it faced two NBA Finals games, one World Series game, and a Game 7 of the NLCS during that stretch. All four games declined by double-digits.
In other primetime action, Bears-Rams averaged 10.50 million on ESPN’s Monday Night Football — down 3% from last year (Patriots-Jets: 10.84M) but up 2% from 2018 (Giants-Falcons: 10.33M). MNF viewership has now declined for four straight weeks, though in two of those weeks the series had to contend with a postponed game on another network.
Rounding out the Week 7 slate, Thursday Night Football posted its smallest audience in two years opposite a presidential debate, as previously noted.
The full list of 2020 NFL ratings is available here.
[Nielsen estimates from ShowBuzz Daily 10.27, CBS Sports PR, Fox Sports PR]
