Though bigger numbers could have been expected given the months of controversy, Sunday’s Patriots/Colts rematch delivered for NBC.
The Week 6 Patriots/Colts Sunday Night Football game drew a 14.6 overnight rating on NBC, up 26% from Giants/Eagles last year (11.6) and up 7% from Washington/Cowboys in 2013 (13.6). Overnights also increased 7% over last year’s Patriots/Colts SNF game, which took place in Week 11 (13.6).
The Patriots’ win ranks as the highest rated Week 6 SNF game in the metered markets since NBC began airing the franchise in 2006, and the top primetime NFL game opposite the MLB League Championship Series since Cowboys/Washington on ABC in 1997 (16.4). Head-to-head, it topped Game 2 of the Cubs/Mets NLCS on TBS by 204% (4.8).
The 26% increase — a season-high — continued NBC’s hot start to the season. All seven telecasts on the network have hit a multi-year high in the overnights, its longest streak of increases to start a season since acquiring rights.
Despite those milestones, Sunday’s game ranks only fifth out of NBC’s seven telecasts thus far. The only games to draw a lower overnight were 49ers/Giants the previous week (13.1) and Broncos/Lions in Week 3 (13.8). It was not the top NFL telecast of the day, trailing the national window on CBS (15.5) — which featured a comparably low-profile Chargers/Packers matchup. This is the fifth straight week the late doubleheader window has topped Sunday Night Football.
Locally, Boston was the top market with a 44.6 rating — its highest on record for a Patriots SNF game. It had a 39.3 in Indianapolis and a 33.5 in Providence, with Denver (19.3) and West Palm Beach (19.1) rounding out the top five.
(Sun. numbers from NBC)
