A flex scheduling change helped FOX to one of the largest NFL audiences of the season.
The Week 11 NFL national window, featuring Packers/Vikings in 89% of markets, drew a 15.5 final rating and 27.5 million viewers on FOX Sunday afternoon — up 3% in ratings and 4% in viewership from coverage featuring Eagles/Packers last year (15.1, 26.5M) and flat and up 2%, respectively, from coverage featuring 49ers/Saints in 2013 (15.5, 26.9M).
The telecast scored the third-largest NFL audience of the season, trailing Seahawks/Cowboys in Week 8 (29.4M) and Patriots/Giants on CBS in Week 10 (28.3M), and tied the fourth-highest rating — behind Seahawks/Cowboys (17.0), Patriots/Giants (16.3) and the Steelers/Patriots Kickoff Game on NBC (16.2). FOX has now aired three of the five highest rated and most-watched NFL telecasts this year.
Coverage was originally scheduled to feature 49ers/Seahawks nationwide. With both teams struggling, the NFL flexed Packers/Vikings into the telecast window — reducing 49ers/Seahawks to just 9% of markets.
The national window topped NBC’s Sunday Night Football in ratings (15.5 to 10.7), viewership (27.5M to 18.0M) and the adults 18-49 demographic (8.7 to 6.3). In eleven weeks this season, it has topped SNF nine times in ratings and ten times in viewership, but only five times in the demo.
UPDATE 12/1: In the early window, regional NFL action featuring Washington/Panthers in 66% of markets had an 8.1 and 13.7 million — down 2% in ratings and 1% in viewership from coverage featuring Seahawks/Chiefs lats year (8.3, 13.9M) and down 12% and 10%, respectively, from coverage featuring Washington/Eagles in 2013 (9.2, 15.3M).
(Sun. numbers via TV Media Insights, Nielsen)
