While there were no losers when the Patriots took on the Giants Saturday night — at least from the television standpoint — CBS stands as the biggest winner.
CBS, which has broadcast all four of the highest rated, most watched NFL games this season, averaged 15.7 million viewers for its simulcast of Patriots/Giants on Saturday night, compared to 13.2 million for NBC and 4.5 million for NFL Network. CBS also had the highest rating of the three networks broadcasting the game, drawing an 8.7.
The 4.5 million viewers for NFL Network is less than half of the 10.1 million who watched Packers/Cowboys on the network earlier this year. Still, the 4.5 million is even with the average viewership of NFL Network games this season.
North of the border, Patriots/Giants also aired on three networks. The combined 1.5 million viewers who watched the game on CTV, TSN and Reseau des Sports was higher than the competing Hockey Night in Canada broadcast on CBC.
