Cowboys-Eagles delivered the NFL’s highest Week 16 overnight rating in four years. Also: viewership fell for first two college football bowls; the NBA scored a slight bump on ESPN; miscellaneous numbers for assorted events.
NFL overnights: Cowboys-Eagles hits Week 16 high
Sunday’s NFL national window (Cowboys-Eagles in 88% of markets) averaged a 15.6 overnight rating on FOX, the highest for any Week 16 telecast since 2015 (mostly Packers-Cardinals: 16.8).
Overnights increased 2% from last year on CBS (Steelers-Saints: 15.3) and 16% from 2017 on FOX (mostly Seahawks-Cowboys: 13.5).
Figures were not immediately available for the first half of the FOX doubleheader. Over on CBS, singleheader coverage featuring Ravens-Browns averaged an 8.2 (-19%).
Fewer viewers for first two bowls
Friday’s Kent State-Utah State Frisco Bowl averaged 1.25 million viewers on ESPN2, down 14% from last year (San Diego State-Ohio: 1.45M) and about even with 2017 (Louisiana Tech-SMU: 1.25M). Ratings were not immediately available.
Earlier in the day, the Buffalo-Charlotte Bahamas Bowl averaged 739,000 — the smallest audience in the six-year history of the game. Viewership fell 12% from last year (FIU-Toledo: 838K) and 16% from 2017 (Ohio-UAB: 882K).
Slight bump for Mavs-Sixers on ESPN
Mavericks-Sixers averaged 1.14 million viewers on the latest edition of ESPN’s NBA Friday, up 3% from last year (Pacers-Sixers: 1.10M) but down 41% from 2017 (Thunder-Sixers: 1.94M). So far this month, viewership has increased for seven of 13 windows on ESPN and TNT that can be compared to last year.
Miscellaneous: Boxing, D-III football, NHL, Liga MX
The latest edition of Premier Boxing Champions on FOX averaged a 1.3 overnight rating, the highest for any boxing telecast since January (1.5). … Friday’s Wisconsin (Whitewater)-North Central (Illinois) Division III football championship averaged 181,000 viewers on ESPNU, down 44% from last year. … NBCSN averaged 235,000 viewers for Islanders-Bruins on Thursday, a late addition to its NHL schedule. … Liga MX is averaging 737,000 viewers on the Univision networks, the highest of any soccer league on U.S. television.
[Numbers from CBS Sports, Fox Sports, ShowBuzz Daily 12.20, 12.23, Univision]
