The NFL season got underway on Sunday with ratings up on CBS, down on NBC and mixed on FOX.
Sunday Night Football, featuring the Colts and the Bears, drew a 13.0/22 overnight rating on NBC last night, down 4% from a 13.6/22 for the comparable Giants/Cowboys game last year. Through two games, NBC is averaging an 11.6 overnight rating for NFL telecasts, down 13% from a 13.3 average through two games last year.
Colts/Bears finished as the second-highest rated sporting event of the weekend. The top rating came for Cowboys/Browns in the late afternoon window on FOX, which drew a 14.3/28. The 14.3 overnight marks a very slight 1% increase over a 14.2 for Bears/Chargers last year. FOX was far less successful in the early window, as regional coverage at 1 PM ET drew a 6.0/13, off 29% from last year.
The big drop for the early FOX game can be partly attributed to CBS’ success during that timeslot. CBS averaged an 11.0/24 overnight for regional NFL action featuring Brett Favre‘s debut as a New York Jet, up 4% from a 10.6/23 for comparable coverage last year. The 11.0 overnight marks the network’s “best opening-day NFL average in nine years“. CBS saw the biggest increase of the weekend for its NFL coverage.
Overnight ratings for Sunday NFL games.
11.0/24: Regional, feat. Jets/Dolphins (Sun., 9/7, 1 PM CBS); up 4% from ’07.
6.0/13: Regional, feat. Rams/Eagles (Sun., 9/7, 1 PM FOX); down 29% from ’07.
14.3/28: Regional, feat. Cowboys/Browns (Sun., 9/7, 4:15 PM FOX); up 1% from ’07.
13.0/22: Colts/Bears (Sun., 9/7, 8:15 PM NBC); down 4% from ’07.
