NBC earned a 16.5 overnight Nielsen rating for last night’s Cowboys-Giants NFL Kickoff game, down 4% from the Saints-Packers game last year, which earned a 17.2 overnight on a Thursday night. The telecast marks the fifth-best primetime NFL game on NBC despite competition last night from the Democratic National Convention. Compared to the Redskins-Giants matchup in ’08, which aired early (7:00pm ET) on a Thursday night to avoid head-to-head competition with John McCain’s acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, the 16.5 rating is up 63% from a 10.1 overnight.
| NFL KICKOFF OVERNIGHT RATINGS TREND |
| YEAR | MATCHUP | NET | OVERNIGHT |
| '12 | Cowboys-Giants* | NBC | 16.5 |
| '11 | Saints-Packers | NBC | 17.2 |
| '10 | Vikings-Saints | NBC | 17.7 |
| '09 | Titans-Steelers | NBC | 13.8 |
| '08 | Redskins-Giants** | NBC | 10.1 |
| '07 | Saints-Colts | NBC | 13.0 |
| '06 | Dolphins-Steelers | NBC | 13.5 |
| '05 | Raiders-Patriots | ABC | 13.1 |
| '04 | Colts-Patriots | ABC | 12.6 |
| '03 | Jets-Redskins | ABC | 14.5 |
| '02 | 49ers-Giants | ESPN | 12.7 |
| | | | |
NOTES: * = Game aired on a Wednesday night due to DNC. ** = Game aired on a Thursday, but began at 7:00pm ET to accommodate RNC.
