Narrow losses for the Cowboys and Patriots helped FOX to a six-year high on Sunday.
The Week 4 NFL singleheader, featuring either Rams-Cowboys of Panthers-Patriots in 49% of markets, had a 12.6 overnight rating on FOX Sunday — up 19% from last year (10.6) and up 21% from 2015 (10.4), both of which aired on CBS.
The 12.6 is the highest for the Week 4 singleheader since 2011 (14.9).
In a rarity, the singleheader was the top NFL telecast of the weekend, easily topping the second-place finisher, NBC’s Sunday Night Football.
Colts-Seahawks delivered an 11.0 overnight on SNF, pulling even with Chiefs-Steelers last year and down 26% from Cowboys-Saints in 2015 (14.8). The 11.0 is tied as the lowest for the Week 4 edition of SNF since 2007.
Over on CBS, Raiders-Broncos had a mere 10.8 overnight in the NFL national window — down 27% from last year (14.8) and down 34% from 2015 (16.4), which both aired on FOX. Last year’s window featured Cowboys-49ers and the 2015 telecast featured Packers-49ers.
The 10.8 is the lowest for the Week 4 national window in at least a decade.
Rounding out the day’s action, CBS scored an increase for its early window, which posted an 8.1 overnight — up 9% from last year (7.4) but down 16% from 2015 (9.7). Early in the morning, the Saints-Dolphins London game had a 4.8 overnight on FOX (-13%), the lowest yet for the 9:30 AM ET window on broadcast television.
[Wknd. numbers via Sports Business Daily 10.2]
