NFL Week 10 Overnights: Fox Tops With Giants-49ers, But Down From '10; "SNF" Up 2%

Fox led all Sunday NFL broadcasts with a 17.2 overnight Nielsen rating for its national window, which featured Giants-49ers in 70% of markets. That rating is down 2.3% from a 17.6 for the net's comparable Week 10 national window last year, which featured Cowboys-Giants. Fox did see overnight ratings increase for regional coverage in the early window (+2.2%). NBC earned a 14.5 overnight for the Patriots-Jets "SNF" matchup, up 2.1% from Patriots-Steelers. The game topped all broadcasts in primetime and led NBC to another win for the night. Boston and Providence led all markets with a 36.9 and 31.4 local rating, respectively, while N.Y. ranked seventh with a 17.3 rating. CBS' singleheader averaged an 11.9 overnight, up 3.5% (Austin Karp, THE DAILY).

NFL WEEK 10: SUNDAY OVERNIGHT NIELSEN RATINGS
NET	'11 TELECAST	RAT.	'10 TELECAST	RAT.	% +/-
CBS	(single)	11.9	(single)	11.5	3.5%
Fox	(regional)	9.1	(regional)	8.9	2.2%
Fox	Giants-49ers (70%)	17.2	Cowboys-Giants (83%)	17.6	-2.3%
NBC	Patriots-Jets	14.5	Patriots-Steelers	14.2	2.1%

FOX EARNS KUDOS: In St. Petersburg, Tom Jones writes Fox' John Lynch yesterday showed that "doing your homework pays off." Eagles WR DeSean Jackson was deactivated prior to yesterday's game against the Cardinals for missing a team meeting, but Lynch "offered excellent perspective." He "studied video during the week and noticed Jackson loafing on plays when he was not the targeted receiver and throwing up his hands on plays he thought he was open but not thrown the ball." Lynch "had the guts to go on the air and question whether missing a meeting was the only reason Jackson was deactivated" (ST. PETERSBURG TIMES, 11/14). In N.Y., Phil Mushnick writes Fox' field audio "continues to be superior." The net during yesterday's Giants-49ers game picked up 49ers QB Alex Smith saying "at the line of scrimmage, 'We're going timeout; we're going timeout,' before calling time out" (N.Y. POST, 11/14). Meanwhile, SI's Peter King notes Fox "had a good stat about Drew Brees in the second half: He's completed at least 20 passes in 30 straight games" (SI.com, 11/14).

LOOK INTO THINGS FURTHER: In Baltimore, David Zurawik writes the analysis of CBS' Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf during yesterday's Ravens-Seahawks game "was not one of their dumb-and-dumber performances," but it "wasn't very good either." Dierdorf and Gumbel mentioned how Seahawks QB Tarvaris Jackson "was in such pain" with a pectoral injury Saturday that he "tried to protect his right side when he shook hands with them." Zurawik: "CBS Sports could try to find out if they shot Jackson up with pain killers before the game. Other networks have managed to report that players have received pain-killing injections in order to play in games this season, why not CBS?" Meanwhile, after recent Ravens games aired on Fox and NBC, it was "almost unbearable to once again be subjected to the maddening barrage of promotions for CBS prime-time series" during the game (Baltimore SUN, 11/14).

LET IT AIR: CABLEFAX DAILY reports four advocacy groups -- Public Knowledge, Media Access Project, The Sports Fan Coalition and the National Consumer League -- have "filed a petition for rulemaking at the FCC asking the agency to end its sports blackout rule." Yesterday's Texans-Buccaneers game is the eighth local blackout this season. Sports Fan Coalition Exec Dir Brian Frederick said, "The FCC's blackout rule simply helps to perpetuate the anti-consumer practice of withholding sporting events from fans who cannot afford tickets to games, even when those fans helped to subsidize sports through public funding, laws, and regulations" (CABLEFAX DAILY, 11/14). CBS Sports Chair Sean McManus in September "said not to look for the NFL to lift its blackout rule anytime soon" (BROADCASTINGCABLE.com, 11/11).