Regular season football topped the crown jewel of the baseball season on Sunday night.
NBC earned an 11.8 overnight rating for Steelers/Saints on Sunday night, topping Game 4 of the Giants/Rangers World Series on FOX (10.4) head-to-head.
Sunday’s telecast likely marks the first time ever that regular season NFL action has drawn a higher overnight than a concurrent World Series game.
The Saints’ win was down 6% from NBC’s last Week 8 Sunday night game — Cowboys/Panthers in 2006 (12.5). From 2007-09, NBC did not air Sunday night games during Week 8 of the season, to avoid competing with the World Series.
Pittsburgh was the top market for Sunday’s telecast, with a 52.2 rating. New Orleans finished not far behind with a 48.7. Baltimore was the top neutral market (19.3), followed by Indianapolis (18.4) and Norfolk, VA (18.4).
Despite beating the World Series in the overnights, NBC did not win the night on broadcast. FOX, fueled by the both Game 4 and the last hour of the NFL national window, took top honors on Sunday night.
