The decision to move Vikings/Cardinals to primetime paid major dividends for NBC.
The Cardinals’ win over the Vikings drew a 12.5/19 final rating and 20.9 million viewers on NBC Sunday night, up 30% and 31%, respectively, from Vikings/Bears in Week 13 last year (9.6/15, 15.9 mil).
Compared to Steelers/Ravens last week, Vikings/Cardinals was up 9% in ratings and viewership from an 11.5/18 and 19.2 million.
Vikings/Cardinals ranks as the sixth-most viewed NFL telecast of the season on NBC, and the 11th most-viewed telecast on the network since it resumed airing games in ’06.
This marks the sixth time this season that NBC has drawn at least 20 million viewers for an NFL telecast. By comparison, NBC drew 20+ million viewers only five times from ’06 to ’08.
Through Week 13, NBC is averaging an 11.9/19 rating and 19.6 million viewers for NFL coverage, up 18% in ratings from a 10.1 through the same point last year.
