The Patriots helped NBC avoid its third decline in four weeks for Sunday Night Football.
The Week 14 Patriots/Texans Sunday Night Football game drew a 13.9 overnight rating on NBC, even with Patriots/Chargers last year, up 9% from Panthers/Saints in 2013 (12.7), and tied as the highest for SNF in Week 14 of the season since Giants/Cowboys in 2011 (16.1).
The Patriots’ blowout win was the eighth of NBC’s 16 telecasts this season to at least tie a multi-year high in overnights, but the first since Week 9.
Sunday’s 13.9 overnight ranks as the lowest for a Patriots game on NBC this season (four telecasts), but the highest ever for the Texans on Sunday Night Football (five telecasts dating back to 2012). The previous mark was a 13.7 for Texans/Bears in 2012, when both teams were 7-1.
SNF was again no match for the NFL national window on FOX, which this week scored an 18.4 overnight for Cowboys/Packers. It has trailed the national window 13 times in 14 weeks this season and has trailed by at least 20% in four of the past five.
Boston was Sunday’s top market with a 42.4 rating, followed by secondary Patriots market Providence (34.6). Houston ranked third (31.5), with Hartford (19.8) and Las Vegas (19.3) rounding out the top five.
(Sun. numbers from NBC Sports)
