A strong Week 9 of NFL ratings included an increase for CBS. Also: Breeders Cup ratings dropped double-digits, and Simone Biles boosted the World Gymnastics Championships.
Singleheader Up in Strong Week 9 For NFL
The Week 9 NFL singleheader window delivered an 8.8 rating and 15.0 million viewers on CBS, up 5% in ratings and viewership from last year (ft. Falcons-Panthers: 8.4, 14.2M) but down 24% and 26% respectively from 2016 (ft. Cowboys-Browns: 11.6, 20.2M). Those games aired on FOX.
All six NFL windows in Week 9 posted an increase in ratings and viewership over last year. That comes with one caveat; the Thursday night game aired on both FOX and NFL Network, after airing on NFL Network alone last year. The full list of Week 9 ratings is available here.
Breeders Cup Classic Hits Low
The Breeders Cup Classic earned a 1.05 rating and 1.61 million viewers on NBC Saturday afternoon, down 20% in ratings and viewership from last year (1.3, 2.01M) and down 32% and 29% respectively from 2016 (1.5, 2.26M). The event aired in primetime in those years.
Ratings and viewership were the lowest for the event since at least 2011.
The last time the Breeders Cup Classic aired in the afternoon, 2015, it had a 2.6 and 3.9 million. Reigning Triple Crown winner American Pharoah won the event that year.
Biles Boosts Gymnastics Worlds
Taped coverage of the World Gymnastics Championships, in which Simone Biles won six medals, had a 0.8 rating and 1.10 million viewers on NBC Sunday afternoon — up a third in ratings and 32% in viewership from NBC’s coverage of the event last year, which aired on a Saturday in October (0.6, 828K).
The event is not contested in Olympic years. In 2015, NBC’s two-day coverage had a 0.7 and 1.09 million on Saturday and a 0.8 and 1.19 million on Sunday.
[Numbers from Nielsen via ShowBuzz Daily 11.6]
