ESPN earned a 6.9 overnight Nielsen rating for last night's Chargers-Jaguars "MNF" telecast from 8:30-11:30pm ET, marking the lowest "MNF" overnight of the season. Chargers-Jaguars also marks the lowest "MNF" overnight since Broncos-Chargers in Week 17 of '07. Last night's game is down 38.4% from an 11.2 overnight for the Jets-Patriots matchup in Week 13 last year. In San Diego, the game earned a 13.9 local rating on ESPN and a 14.0 rating on KFMB-CBS. In Jacksonville, the game earned a 12.3 rating on ESPN and a 13.3 rating on WJXT-Ind (Austin Karp, THE DAILY).
WHO CHANGED THE CHANNEL? PRO FOOTBALL TALK’s Michael David Smith noted Fox affiliates in Austin and San Antonio “have been hearing it” from Texans fans over the last 24 hours. Viewers in those two markets "were taken away from the final seconds of the Texans’ victory over the Falcons in favor of the start of the Cowboys’ game against the Cardinals.” That decision was made by Fox “at the network level,” and the net said that “it was made for a simple reason: More people watch the Cowboys than the Texans in those two markets.” Fox Sports Senior VP/Media Relations Lou D’Ermilio in an e-mail said, “Based on general interest in the Texans and Cowboys in both markets we stand by this decision. The Texans rating in Austin was a 12.1, while the Cowboy rating was a 21.7. In San Antonio, the Texans posted a 14.8, while the Cowboys did a 27.9” (PROFOOTBALLTALK.com, 12/5).
SWITCHING IT UP: In S.F., Steve Kroner writes a typical Sunday in the Bay Area has "the 49ers or Raiders with a 10 a.m. kickoff and the other team starting at 1:05 or 1:15 p.m." However, the NFL "switched the kickoff of the Raiders-Packers game from 10 a.m. PST to 1:15 p.m.," which means the CBS telecast from Green Bay "will go directly against Fox's telecast of the 49ers-Cardinals game from Arizona." The NFL "tries to keep the Raiders and 49ers in separate time slots -- and there is a rule preventing a game from airing concurrently on another network if either team is playing at home." Kroner notes because "both are on the road Sunday, the switch was possible" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 12/6).
