With the team taking a big step back on the field, it is no surprise that Cowboys ratings cannot quite measure up to last year.
Cowboys-Raiders scored an 11.1 rating and 19.2 million viewers on NBC’s Sunday Night Football last weekend, down 18% in ratings and 21% in viewership from Buccaneers-Cowboys last year (13.6, 24.1M), but up 6% in both measures from Cardinals-Eagles in 2015 (10.5, 18.1M).
Dallas entered Sunday’s game with a 7-6 record, well behind last year’s NFC-leading 11-2 pace.
So far this season, Cowboys games have seemingly held up well. Eight of the 14 windows that have featured Dallas have increased over last year. That comes with a major caveat — most of the year-ago windows did not include the Cowboys.
Of the five windows that featured Dallas both this year and last, four have declined — each by double-digits. The lone exception was Packers-Cowboys on FOX in Week 5, which increased 12% over last year’s Bengals-Cowboys matchup on lesser-watched CBS.
Despite the decline, the Cowboys’ narrow win was the fourth of five Sunday night games to crack an 11.0 rating. That would not ordinarily be notable, but only three of the previous ten SNF games hit that mark.
In the key young demographics, SNF fell 27% in adults 18-49 (from 8.1 to 5.9), 29% in adults 18-34 (from 6.3 to 4.5) and 24% in adults 25-54 (from 9.5 to 7.2).
The 2017 NFL ratings page is available here.
Cowboys Ratings vs. Last Year (Through Week 15)
| Direct (apples-to-apples) comparisons highlighted Asterisk (*) indicates NFL Network simulcast |
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| # | Window | Vs. | Rtg. | Vwrs. | Window | Vs. | Rtg. | Vwrs. |
| 1 | SNF (NBC) | NYG | 13.4 | 24.4M | Late DH (FOX) | NYG (90%) | 15.5 | 27.5M |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Late DH (FOX) | DEN (81%) | 14.3 | 26.0M | Single (FOX) | WSH (36%) | 11.0 | 19.2M |
| 3 | MNF (ESPN) | ARIZ | 8.2 | 13.7M | SNF (NBC) | CHI | 11.7 | 20.6M |
| 4 | Single (FOX) | LAR (32%) | 11.5 | 20.1M | Late DH (FOX) | SF (84%) | 13.1 | 22.7M |
| 5 | Late DH (FOX) | GB | 13.6 | 23.9M | Late DH (CBS) | CIN (80%) | 12.1 | 21.3M |
| 6 | BYE | Late DH (FOX) | GB (86%) | 15.8 | 28.0M | |||
| 7 | Single (FOX) | SF (36%) | 9.5 | 16.1M | BYE | |||
| 8 | Late DH (FOX) | WSH | 12.7 | 22.0M | SNF (NBC) | PHI | 10.2 | 18.0M |
| 9 | Late DH (CBS) | KC | 12.5 | 21.7M | Single (FOX) | CLE (31%) | 11.6 | 20.2M |
| 10 | Late DH (FOX) | ATL (86%) | 12.8 | 22.0M | Late DH (FOX) | PIT (92%) | 16.4 | 28.9M |
| 11 | SNF (NBC) | PHI | 11.9 | 21.1M | Early DH (CBS) | BAL (72%) | 10.2 | 17.6M |
| 12 | Holiday (CBS) | LAC | 11.1 | 26.3M | Holiday (FOX) | WSH | 14.5 | 35.1M |
| 13 | TNF (NBC*) | WSH | 9.4 | 15.6M | TNF (NBC*) | MIN | 12.8 | 21.8M |
| 14 | Early DH (FOX) | NYG (66%) | 9.1 | 15.5M | SNF (NBC) | NYG | 14.9 | 26.5M |
| 15 | SNF (NBC) | OAK | 11.1 | 19.2M | SNF (NBC) | TB | 13.6 | 24.1M |
[Sun. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily 12.19]
