Following a trio of increases on Thanksgiving, overnight ratings rose for all four Sunday NFL windows in Week 12.
The Week 12 NFL national window, featuring Steelers-Broncos in 87% of markets, earned a 15.5 overnight rating on CBS — up 17% from last year (mostly Saints-Rams: 13.3) and up 3% from 2016 (mostly Panthers-Raiders: 15.1).
The 15.5 is the highest NFL overnight of the season on CBS, topping the previous mark set days earlier by Bears-Lions on Thanksgiving (14.2). Across all networks, it is the third-highest overnight behind Packers-Patriots on NBC in Week 9 (15.6) and Cowboys-Panthers on FOX in Week 1 (15.7).
In addition, the 15.5 is the highest for the Week 12 national window since 2015 (Steelers-Seahawks: 16.7).
Later in the night, Packers-Vikings drew a 13.2 overnight on NBC — up 8% from last year (Packers-Steelers: 12.2) and up 12% from 2016 (Chiefs-Broncos: 11.8). The 13.2 is the highest for SNF in Week 12 of the season since Patriots-Broncos in 2015 (16.2).
Ten of NBC’s 14 NFL telecasts this season have increased, with Packers-Vikings the eighth to hit a multi-year high.
Shifting to the afternoon windows, FOX earned a 10.3 overnight for singleheader coverage featuring Panthers-Seahawks in 42% of markets — up 3% from last year (ft. Bears-Eagles: 10.0) but down 6% from 2016 (ft. Seahawks-Buccaneers: 11.0).
CBS drew a 9.0 for its early doubleheader window, up 11% from last year (8.1), up 2% from 2016 (8.8), and the highest since 2014 (10.3).
Dating back to last week’s Chiefs-Rams Monday Night Football game, eight straight NFL game windows have posted an increase in the metered markets — with five of those hitting multi-year highs.
[Numbers from NBC Sports, CBS Sports, Fox Sports PR/Twitter 11.26]
