This week’s installment of “Sunday Night Football” proved to be a major game-changer, with the best overnight ratings the NFL franchise has enjoyed in three years.
The nail-biter between the New York Giants and the Dallas Cowboys averaged a 16.5 rating from 8:30 p.m.-11:30 p.m on NBC, making it the highest-rated regular-season prime-time game, excluding Kickoff Weekends, since 2013.
That is also an improvement of a staggering 43 percent from last week, as ratings for the weekend NFL games have been suffering in recent weeks. The city of Dallas rallied behind their team, with the city recording an incredible 42.3 local rating during the game.
NBC easily won the night, averaging 19.2 million viewers and a 6.1 rating in prime time, airing only NFL coverage. Those numbers may be adjusted later in the day.
Fox finished second in the key demo with a 2.5 rating and third in total viewers with 7.2 million. “The Simpsons” got 5.7 million viewers and a 2.4 rating at 8. “Son of Zorn” followed with just under 3 million viewers and a 1.3 rating at 8:30. “Family Guy” clocked in at 9 with 3 million viewers and a 1.4 rating. “Last Man on Earth” closed at 9:30 with 2.2 million viewers and a 1.0 rating.
ABC finished third in the key demo with a 1.3 rating but fourth in total viewers with 5.5 million. The network aired the movie “Frozen” from 8-10, followed by “The Making of Frozen” at 10.
CBS finished fourth in the demo with a 0.8 rating and second in total viewers with 7.8 million. Due to an overrun of NFL football, these numbers will likely be adjusted later today. “The Dick Van Dyke Show–Now in Living Color” averaged 7.5 million viewers and a 0.7 rating after its scheduled start time of 8. “Madam Secretary” averaged 6.9 million viewers and a 0.7 rating at 9:30. “Elementary” ran over the 8-11 primetime hours, but averaged 4.5 million viewers and a 0.5 rating at 10:30.
Univision finished in fifth place with 1.7 million viewers and a 0.6 rating.
Telemundo came in sixth with 991,000 viewers and a 0.3 rating.
9 Reasons Why NFL TV Ratings Might Be Down This Year (Photos)
After years of ratings dominance, viewing of NFL games on TV this season is down by 12 percent. But why? Click on to see some possible reasons.
Donald Trump The GOP nominee has impacted everything else, so why not football? Fans have understandably had a hard time paying attention to the game during this crazy White House campaign.
Peyton Manning The legendary QB has retired, depriving the NFL of one of its most recognizable faces.
Chicago Cubs Yep, as Cubs fan Bill Murray knows, the baseball team's fantasy journey from perennial losers to the World Series has been this fall's Cinderella story. Kinda makes football look puny in comparison.
Colin Kaepernick His principled refusal to stand for the national anthem has turned into a cause celebre that has polarized fans and generated bad PR for the NFL.
Thursday Night Football Hey, who (aside from New Englanders) wants to see the Patriots score a 27-0 blowout against the Texans? Didn't think so. Hardcore fans are complaining about the lousy match-ups on this season's schedule.
Ray Rice He may not play anymore, but the former running back is the symbol of ongoing domestic-violence scandals that have soured many fans on the sport.
NFL RedZone A lot of fans have gotten hooked on the special NFL-owned, game-day exclusive RedZone channel, hosted by Hanson. Unfortunately, that might mean lower ratings for broadcast partners.
Brett Favre Fan concern has steadily increased about the health effects on pros who took repeated hard hits during their career. Former QB Favre even said that his occasional memory lapses scared him and convinced him not to come out of retirement again. The worry has led to special game rules that some fans say has made the games boring.
Roger Goodell He may be "the most powerful man in sports," but the NFL commissioner has taken a lot of flak lately over issues from domestic violence to Deflategate - including from league owners, three of whom told The Daily Caller this year that it was time for a replacement.
