Given last year’s games aired on FOX, it is no surprise that CBS posted declines for both games of its Week 2 NFL doubleheader.
Sunday’s Week 2 NFL national window, featuring Patriots-Jaguars in 79% of markets, had a 12.0 rating and 20.97 million viewers on CBS — down 17% in ratings and 19% in viewership from last year on FOX (mostly Cowboys-Broncos: 14.4, 26.00M) and down 2% in both measures from 2016 on CBS (Colts-Broncos: 12.2, 21.36M).
The telecast was the lowest rated Week 2 NFL national window since 2007 (11.0) and the least-watched since 2012 (19.9M).
Compared to last year’s first national window on CBS, which took place in week three, ratings fell 2% (from 12.2) and viewership 1% (from 21.28M).
Not counting Week 17, when both FOX and CBS air doubleheaders, the NFL national window has now failed to crack a 13.0 rating nineteen times in the last three seasons — more than the previous eight seasons combined (17).
Earlier in the day, CBS drew a 7.6 and 12.7 million for the first half of its doubleheader — down 4% in ratings and 6% in viewership from last year on FOX (mostly Eagles-Chiefs: 7.9, 13.5M) but down 11% and 12% respectively from 2016 on CBS (8.5, 14.4M).
The slight dip was a stark turnaround from the overnights, which were up 11 percent.
The full list of Week 2 NFL ratings is available here.
[Numbers from Nielsen via ShowBuzz Daily 9.18]
