More proof that the NFL may be the strongest property, sans American Idol, in all of television; in a week where every one of the league’s network partners saw a dip in ratings from last year, the NFL was still the king on Sunday.
With the exception of the early game on CBS, ratings were down across the board for NFL coverage on Sunday. The late afternoon national game on CBS, Chiefs/Bears, drew a 11.5 overnight, down 2% from last year, while the early game on FOX drew a 10.9 overnight, off 14% from 2006. For the third straight game, NBC was down in the ratings; the network’s presentation of Chargers/Patriots was off 7% from the comparable Washington/Cowboys game last year.
Still, the 11.7/18 overnight for Sunday Night Football bested the opposing Emmy Awards on FOX, which drew a 10.5/16. The Emmys, which also aired opposite Yankees/Red Sox on ESPN, “may be the least-watched in the telecast?s history when final numbers are issued tomorrow.”
If, in a down week, the NFL can still best the numbers of one of the most famous awards shows, it almost cannot be disputed that there is no stronger property in all of sports, or in all of television for that matter.
Other NFL ratings news: The NFL Today was the only pregame show to see a bump in ratings from last year; still, the 2.7/7 overnight was the lowest of the three NFL pregame shows on network television. Football Night in America drew a 5.3 overnight, including a 7.1 from 8:00 to 8:15, when NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was interviewed by Bob Costas.
