The numbers were not great, but anyone hoping for a collapse in NFL overnights yesterday will likely be disappointed.
The Week 3 NFL national window, featuring Bengals-Packers in most markets, had a 13.8 overnight rating on CBS Sunday — down a tick from last year (13.9) and down 2% from 2015 (14.1). Last year’s featured game was Steelers-Eagles and the 2015 telecast was Bears-Seahawks.
The 13.8 is the lowest for the Week 3 national window since Steelers-Bengals in 2009 (12.6), but given the slight decline in the metered markets, final numbers could still climb above last year.
The early CBS window pulled an 10.0 overnight, up 11% from last year (9.0) but down 9% from 2015 (11.0).
On NBC, the Oakland-Washington Sunday Night Football game scored an 11.6 overnight — down 10% from Bears-Cowboys last year (12.9) and down 16% from Broncos-Lions in 2014 (13.8). The 11.6 is the lowest for SNF in Week 3 since Broncos-Patriots in 2006 (10.7). Washington’s easy win peaked early, topping out at a 12.5 from 9-9:30 PM ET.
UPDATE 12:45 ET: Rounding out the weekend slate, the singleheader window on FOX had a 10.3 overnight (-16%), the lowest for the window in Week 3 since 2008. Traditional ratings will not be available for the 9:30 AM ET game from London, which was broadcast exclusively by live stream on Verizon.
The declines were not as pronounced as in the previous week, when two telecasts declined by more than 20%. Nor was the lone increase as significant; last week’s late doubleheader game rose by 18%.
[Wknd. overnights from CBS PR, NBC Sports PR, Sports Business Daily 9.25]
