NFL Week 2 Overnights: CBS Nat'l Window Leads, But Down; "SNF" Up With Bears' Comeback

Overnight ratings NFL telecasts on Sunday afternoon struggled compared the same windows in Week 2 last year, but the day concluded with a slight bump for NBC’s “SNF” coverage. CBS led all Sunday NFL telecasts with a 14.6 overnight for its national window, which saw the Chiefs-Broncos matchup in 56% of markets. That figure is down sharply from Week 2 last year, when CBS aired the Manning Bowl (Broncos-Giants) in 89% of markets, drawing a 17.8 overnight. However, the Chiefs-Broncos matchup was up from a 14.4 overnight for coverage featuring Jets-Steelers in '12. CBS also drew a 9.9 overnight for its regional coverage in the early window yesterday, which featured Patriots-Vikings. That figure is down from a 10.7 rating last year. Meanwhile, NBC drew a 14.0 overnight for Bears-49ers on “SNF” last night, which saw the first regular-season game ever at Levi’s Stadium. The Bears’ come-from-behind win was up 3% from 49ers-Seahawks in Week 2 last year. That game in ’13 was delayed by an hour due to adverse weather. Last night’s game drew a 31.8 local rating in Chicago. Sacramento ranked No. 2 among all markets with a 28.6 local rating, while the S.F.-Oakland-San Jose market finished third with a 27.0 rating. That 27.0 local rating is the best figure in the Bay Area for a primetime regular-season NFL game in 11 years. Fox aired singleheader coverage in the early window yesterday, drawing a 12.3 overnight, which is down from a 12.8 rating last year (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).

CHART NOTES: * = Game had one-hour weather delay.

UNCHARACTERISTIC AUTHENTICITY: In Boston, Chad Finn writes under the header, "ESPN Really Called It Like It Is Regarding NFL." Viewers yesterday were "greeted by something not often seen on ESPN in its age of embracing phony debate: authentic outrage." It began on “SportsCenter,” when Hannah Storm "signed off with a brief monologue as pointed and poignant as the one delivered by CBS’s James Brown Thursday night." Even ESPN, "a business partner of the NFL and arguably a long-time enabler, has confronted the truth: The intrinsic hypocrisy has become too much to bear" (BOSTON GLOBE, 9/15). In N.Y., Bob Raissman writes yesterday morning "could not be business as usual" on NFL pregame shows. ESPN's "Sunday NFL Countdown" crew "spent the first 45 minutes" discussing the off-field issues plaguing the league. Most of the panel "had already weighed in" on the Ray Rice case on multiple ESPN platforms, so it was the discussion of Vikings RB Adrian Peterson’s child abuse indictment "that produced an inordinate amount of passion." Meanwhile, yesterday was a day when pregame shows "did not need a distraction." But CBS still "decided it was a great idea to bring Charles Barkley in as a guest analyst on 'The NFL Today.'" The panel engaged "in a clichéd discussion of Barkley’s tired 'I’m not a role model' line" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 9/15).

AND THEY'RE OFF! In Denver, Dusty Saunders writes CBS' Brown on Thursday's Steelers-Ravens telecast "again proved he is more than a jock broadcaster by offering insight and compassion regarding domestic violence." His 90-second essay was "powerful" and the "highlight of the 27-minute coverage" of the Rice situation (DENVER POST, 9/15).

TABLOID TOUCHDOWN: In Buffalo, Jeff Simon wrote the "power of TMZ is no longer a joke" in the wake of its release of the tape of Rice assaulting his wife. TMZ "altered a week’s worth of front pages and transformed the way football was broadcast" (BUFFALO NEWS, 9/14). In N.Y., David Carr wrote TMZ "has a tactical advantage" over other news outlets. While networks "continue to play peekaboo about whether they pay for news -- many do -- TMZ is more than happy to pony up for information that will tilt the field and draw hits." TMZ is owned by Time Warner, but it "is an ill-mannered guerrilla outfit taking aim at and drawing blood from big, fat targets." Unlike the broadcast networks and ESPN, which "have become increasingly dependent on the mighty NFL for continued relevance and profit, TMZ is an outrider that reports without regard to propriety or relationships" (NYTIMES.com, 9/14).

ANALYST ANALYSIS: In N.Y., Phil Mushnick writes CBS’ Trent Green during Jets-Packers yesterday “mostly spoke observant, regular dude and useful, practical football, as opposed to razzled, dazzled nonsense” (N.Y. POST, 9/15). Also in N.Y., the DAILY NEWS' Raissman wrote the new cast of Showtime’s “Inside the NFL,” is “showing potential.” Still, there “is a problem that still needs to be fixed.” Granted, panelists Brandon Marshall and Ed Reed “are new to the TV biz, but during the latest episode there was far too much talking over each other.” It “turned into a free-for-all, jabberfest” (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 9/14).

TOUGH TO WATCH: In Boston, Kevin Paul Dupont wrote watching the NFL on TV "is painful," and the NHL is "now the No. 1 sports viewing experience." Last weekend's Patriots-Dolphins "lasted a fairly routine and laborious 3:17." During that time, "no fewer than 77 commercials were played." Dupont: "The broadcast wore me down faster than a 300-pound lineman wilts in Miami heat. ... I don’t know how anyone can sit through three of these games on a Sunday, for even one week, never mind all 17 NFL weeks" (BOSTON GLOBE, 9/14).