CBS led all NFL Week 5 telecasts yesterday with a 15.7 overnight Nielsen rating for its national window, which featured Broncos-Patriots in 81% of markets. That figure is up slightly from a 15.6 overnight for the comparable window last year, which featured Jets-Patriots. Meanwhile, NBC earned an 11.7 overnight for the Chargers-Saints “SNF,” which aired opposite two MLB LDS games: Yankees-Orioles on TBS and Reds-Giants on TNT. The 11.7 overnight is down 16% from a 14.0 rating for the comparable Packers-Falcons in Week 5 last year, which did not face any MLB competition. Chargers-Saints peaked at a 12.7 rating from 11:30-11:45pm ET. The game earned a 34.3 local rating in San Diego and a 49.6 rating in New Orleans. Fox earned a 12.5 for its singleheader yesterday, up 17% from the same window last year (Austin Karp, THE DAILY).
| NFL WEEK 5 SUNDAY OVERNIGHTS |
| NET | '12 GAME | RAT. | '11 GAME | RAT. | % +/- |
| Fox | (single) | 12.5 | (single) | 10.7 | 16.8% |
| CBS | (regional) | 9.3 | (regional) | 9.1 | 2.2% |
| CBS | Broncos-Patriots (81%) | 15.7 | Jets-Patriots (81%) | 15.6 | 0.6% |
| NBC | Chargers-Saints | 11.7 | Packers-Falcons | 14.0 | -16.4% |
| | | | | | |
CHEERS & JEERS: In Atlanta, Michael Cunningham wrote under the header, "Fox NFL Crew Stumbles While Second-Guessing." Fox' Sam Rosen and John Lynch during yesterday's Falcons-Redskins game "piled on with bar-stool takes" after Falcons RB Jacquizz Rodgers carried for a short gain on third-and-three with the team down 10-7 in the third quarter. Rosen said, “Now that’s a strange call." Lynch added, “I don’t like the call. It’s easy to say after they don’t convert.” Cunningham noted Lynch "later praised Atlanta’s running game while pretending he hadn’t earlier slammed the Falcons for running the ball in a short-yardage situation" (AJC.com, 10/7). In Baltimore, David Zurawik wrote under the header, "CBS, Ian Eagle Almost Made the Ravens-Chiefs Game Watchable -- Almost." Zurawik: "I will take the work that Eagle did Sunday over the work of CBS Sports play-by-play announcer Greg Gumbel any day." Eagle's call was "vastly superior to Gumbel's last Ravens telecast." Zurawik wrote of Eagle's CBS broadcast partner Dan Fouts, "Most of the ex-NFL jocks on the second and third broadcast teams in the booth are lazy ... and Fouts is one of them." They "bring down the whole broadcast." Zurawik: "For every good thing the crew did, they did at least one or more wrongheaded things" (BALTIMORESUN.com, 10/7). In Tampa, Tom Jones writes, "Great get by CBS to interview NFL replacement official Lance Easley, who made the infamous call at the end of the Packers-Seahawks game." Easley said that "he did not have a doubt it was touchdown, and he still doesn't." When asked if he would work as an NFL referee again, Easley said, "In a heartbeat" (TAMPABAY.com, 10/7).
