Better numbers could be expected for a Giants-Cowboys matchup, but up is up.
Giants-Cowboys had a 13.2 rating and 24.2 million viewers in the season premiere of NBC’s Sunday Night Football, per Nielsen fast-nationals — up a tick in ratings and 5% in viewership from Patriots-Cardinals last year (13.1, 23.1M) but down 14% and 10% respectively from the same Giants-Cowboys matchup in 2015 (15.4, 26.8M).
Including streaming viewership on NBC Sports and NFL digital platforms, the Cowboys’ win had 24.5 million viewers — still up 5% from last year’s 23.3 million.
Compared to last year’s Giants-Cowboys Week 1 game on FOX, ratings fell 15% and viewership 12% from a 15.5 and 27.5 million. Keep in mind the NFL’s 4:25 PM ET national window outperforms all others. Even with that caveat, Sunday’s numbers were soft by Giants-Cowboys standards; the 13.2 rating is the fourth-lowest for a game between the rivals in the past decade (21 windows).
One possible reason for the relatively low numbers was competing coverage of Hurricane Irma. Though the storm was not as damaging as expected (in the U.S. — certainly not the case elsewhere), The Weather Channel attracted significantly more viewers than usual all weekend. Because the hurricane hit Tampa, Fla., where Nielsen’s national data center is located, ratings for all programs dating back to Saturday have been delayed. The fast-nationals NBC released today would typically have come out on Monday.
Dallas-Ft. Worth led all markets Sunday night with a 36.5 rating. San Antonio was second with a 29.3, followed by Austin (26.4). Richmond, Va., was the top neutral market with a 23.4, and Albuquerque, N.M., rounded out the top five with a 22.6. New York was ninth with a 19.3.
[Sun. numbers from NBC Sports]
