NFL Week 17 ratings mostly declined on New Year’s Eve.
The Week 17 NFL national window on FOX, featuring Panthers-Falcons in 72% of markets, had a 13.2 overnight rating Sunday afternoon — down 7% from last year (mostly Giants-Washington: 14.2) and down 6% from 2015 (mostly Seahawks-Cardinals: 14.0).
The 13.2 is the lowest for the Week 17 national window on FOX since the end of the 2011-12 season, which also featured an NFC South matchup (mostly Panthers-Saints: 11.9).
The 13.2 is also the lowest for any national window on FOX all season. That is no surprise, given CBS and FOX cannibalize each other with competing doubleheaders in Week 17.
In the same window on CBS, coverage featuring Bengals-Ravens had a 9.4 overnight — up 32% from last year’s late game (7.1) but down 15% from 2015 (11.1). In a departure from previous years, CBS designated the late afternoon slot as its Week 17 national window. Compared to its Week 17 national window last year, which aired in the 1 PM slot, overnights fell 10% from a 10.4.
Earlier in the day, FOX pulled a 7.7 for regional action featuring Bears-Vikings and CBS a 7.1 for coverage featuring Jets-Patriots — down 22% and 32% respectively from the same timeslots last year.
There was no Week 17 Sunday Night Football game as the NFL elected not to flex any matchup into primetime.
[Sun. numbers from Sports Business Daily 1.2]
