Thanks to terrible numbers last year, NBC had a massive increase in overnight ratings for the latest edition of “Sunday Night Football.”
The Week 7 edition of “Sunday Night Football,” pitting the Steelers against the Bengals, earned an 11.7 overnight rating on NBC — up 43% from Colts/Saints opposite the World Series last year (8.2), but down 27% from Vikings/Packers in 2010 (16.0).
In last year’s game, which aired opposite Game 4 of the World Series on FOX, the Saints beat the winless, Peyton Manning-less Colts 62-0.
By contrast, Sunday’s Steelers/Bengals was closer and faced less formidable competition — Game 6 of the NLCS on FOX. The NLCS game earned a 5.5 overnight, while last year’s World Series game drew a 10.1.
While up dramatically from last year, Sunday’s game tied Saints/Chargers two weeks earlier as the lowest rated “SNF” telecast of the season in the metered markets.
The game was not only outdrawn by the NFL national window on CBS (16.2), but the singleheader on FOX (12.8) as well.
(Sunday’s overnight from Sports Business Daily)
