A Week 7 replete with forgettable games scored forgettable numbers, at least by NFL standards.
Sunday’s Week 7 NFL national window (mostly Chiefs-49ers) averaged an 11.6 rating and 22.29 million viewers on FOX, marking the lowest rated and least-watched late doubleheader window since Week 1, when CBS and FOX cannibalized each other with competing games.
Ratings still jumped 25% and viewership 23% from last year (mostly Bears-Buccaneers: 9.3, 18.14M). Of the eight late doubleheader windows this season (including Week 1), seven have posted an increase over last year. FOX in particular has averaged 22.29 million for its late doubleheader games, up 9% from last year at this point (20.95M).
The national window was the only telecast of Week 7 to post an increase over last year and the only one to crack even a 9.0 rating.
Ranking a distant second for the week, Steelers-Dolphins drew an 8.5 and 15.53 million on NBC’s Sunday Night Football — off modestly from Colts-49ers last year (9.0, ~16.1M). The CBS singleheader (mostly Lions-Cowboys) placed third at a 7.8 (-5%) and 14.56 million, followed by the FOX early window (mostly Green Bay-Washington) at a 7.3 (-13%) and 13.36 million, both multi-year lows.
Rounding out the week’s slate, ESPN’s Monday Night Football (Bears-Patriots) averaged a 6.5 and 11.83 million across ESPN and ESPN2 — off from Saints-Seahawks on ESPN alone last year (7.2, ~12.8M). MNF is averaging 14 million viewers for the season, up 2% from last year, with the increase rising to 11% if one excludes the split doubleheader in Week 2.
(Nielsen estimates from Programming Insider 10.25, ShowBuzz Daily 10.25)
