Sunday Night Football was the No. 1 broadcast on Sunday night and led NBC to a Sunday night win, according to overnight data released today by The Nielsen Company.
Last night’s game on NBC, in which the Eagles dominated the Cowboys scoring a 34-7 blowout victory, registered a 14.7 overnight rating and a 23 share, up 25 percent from last year’s Week 8 game (Steelers-Saints, 11.8/18), which faced Game 4 of the World Series. The Eagles jumped out to a quick 21-0 lead and led 34-0 in the fourth quarter before the Cowboys scored their only touchdown of the game with just under 13 minutes to play.
Despite the fact that the home market of Philadelphia was excluded from the rating due to Saturday’s snowstorm that affected the northeast, the 14.7 overnight is the third highest-rated Sunday Night Football game this year (Sunday’s only). New York, Boston and Hartford are also excluded from the overnight rating.
*Philadelphia has averaged a 32.7 rating and 46 share in eight Sunday Night Football games over the past three seasons. In last year’s Eagles-Cowboys game in Week 14, the Philadelphia market averaged a 38.4 rating and a 51 share.
NBC NO. 1 ON SUNDAY NIGHT: Last night’s Sunday Night Football broadcast won the night while facing original network programs. NBC led the night among metered markets in primetime (7-11 p.m. ET) with an 11.4/18, topping the 10.2/16 for second-place CBS, which was aided by an NFL overrun of the close game between the Steelers and Patriots. NBC also beat ABC by 104 percent (5.6/9) and Fox by 208 percent (3.7/6).
35 FOR 36: When the viewership is available tomorrow from Nielsen, Sunday Night Football is expected to be the most-watched primetime show on Sunday night. This will mark the 35th time in 36 primetime NFL games – dating back to Week 7 in 2009 – that NBC has defeated its competition (32 Sundays, two Thursdays and one Tuesday).
TOP 10 METERED MARKETS FOR COWBOYS-EAGLES:
*Philadelphia was excluded from the overnight rating
1. Dallas, 30.5/45
2. Norfolk, 23.8/32
1. San Antonio, 23.7/33
2. Richmond, 24.3/34
3. Las Vegas, 21.0/33
4. Austin, 20.7/32
5. Washington, D.C., 19.8/31
6. Albuquerque, 19.6/29
7. Memphis, 18.5/24
8. New Orleans, 18.4/24
**Viewership numbers will be available when national ratings are released tomorrow**
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(Source: NBC Sports Group)
