17.7 Best Overnight for Any NFL Regular Season Primetime Game Since 1997 NBC Dominates Competition in Primetime Beating Second Place CBS by 253%.
Last night’s Vikings-Saints game on NBC Sports was the highest-rated NFL regular season primetime game in 13 years, the highest-rated NBC regular season primetime game ever, and the highest-rated NFL Kickoff ever, according to overnight ratings data released today by The Nielsen Company.
The game, a rematch of last year’s NFC Championship Game won by the Saints 14-9, scored a 17.7 overnight rating/28 share (8:45-11:30 p.m. ET), the highest regular season primetime NFL rating on any network since Dec. 15, 1997 (Broncos-49ers, 19.3/30) and the best ever for an NBC regular season primetime game.
The overnight rating for last night’s game far surpasses the previous best NFL Opening Kickoff game by more than three ratings points and 22 percent (Jets-Redskins, 14.5/23 on ABC in 2003) and nearly four full ratings points and 28 percent higher than last year’s NFL Kickoff which drew a 13.8/23 for the Titans-Steelers OT game.
· DOMINATED PRIMETIME: NBC dominated primetime (8-11 p.m.) with a 15.9/26 average in the metered markets, establishing a 253 percent margin of victory over CBS’s second-place 4.5/7 and beating the combined delivery of CBS, ABC (3.3/5), CW (2.6/4) and Fox (2.4/4).
· The rating peaked at an 18.8/29 from 9:30-10:00 p.m. ET.
NFL KICKOFF – THURSDAY NIGHT SEASON OPENERS OVERNIGHT RATINGS:
2010: NBC 17.7/28 (New Orleans 14 – Minnesota 9)
2003: ABC 14.5/23 (Washington 16 – NY Jets 13)
2009: NBC 13.8/23 (Pittsburgh 13 – Tennessee 10)
2006: NBC 13.5/22 (Pittsburgh 28 – Miami 17)
2005: ABC 13.1/22 (New England 30 – Oakland 20)
2007: NBC 13.0/21 (Indianapolis 41 – New Orleans 10)
2004: ABC 12.6/20 (New England 27 – Indianapolis 24)
*2008: NBC 10.1/17 (NY Giants 16 – Washington 7)
**2002: ESPN 7.6/13 (Houston 19 – Dallas 10)
*Early start due to the Republican National Convention
**U.S. HH Rating: overnight rating not available
TOP 10 METERED MARKETS FOR LAST NIGHT’S GAME
1. New Orleans, 60.0/78
2. Minneapolis, 43.8/64
3. Milwaukee, 33.3/52
4. Las Vegas, 23.5/36
5. Nashville, 23.3/33
6. Norfolk, 22.7/34
7. Washington, D.C., 22.6/36
8. Indianapolis, 22.5/35
9. Baltimore, 22.1/34
10. Charlotte, 22.0/36
(source: NBC)
