NFL Week 16 Overnights: Blowout Hurts CBS National Window, But Regional Best Since '09

CBS led Week 16 NFL telecasts with a 14.7 overnight rating for the Cowboys’ 42-7 win over the Colts in the Sunday national window. With the Cowboys up 28-0 at halftime, that rating is down slightly from a national window featuring Patriots-Ravens in Week 16 last year. CBS also drew a 12.3 overnight for its regional window earlier on Sunday, marking the net’s best regional window since ’09. Meanwhile, NBC drew a 12.8 for the Seahawks’ 35-6 win over the Cardinals on “SNF” last night, up 2% from a 12.5 for Bears-Eagles last year. The game drew a 51.9 local rating in Seattle-Tacoma, marking the best figure ever in the market for an NFL regular-season primetime game. The game also drew a 35.2 local rating in Phoenix. Fox yesterday drew a 10.0 for singleheader coverage, down 25% from last year. On Saturday, CBS and NFL Network combined for an 8.9 overnight rating for the Chargers' come-from-behind OT win over the 49ers from 8:30pm-12:15am ET. NFL Network earlier in the day earned a 6.1 overnight from 4:30-7:45pm for the Redskins' 27-24 win over the Eagles (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor). 

ALL ABOUT THE EYE: In Baltimore, David Zurawik wrote CBS "delivered a first-rate telecast" for yesterday's Ravens-Texans game. The crew of play-by-play man Andrew Catalon, along with analysts Steve Tasker and Steve Beuerlein, was "smooth, informed, engaged and energized pretty much from beginning to end." The coordination between the "folks in the production truck and the guys in the booth was as good as it gets in a regional telecast." Catalon is "superb at setting the table and sharing only those statistics that tell the story of the game," and yesterday "was on the money." Meanwhile, Beuerlein and Tasker "have developed a nice rhythm in their analysis" (BALTIMORESUN.com, 12/21). In N.Y., Bob Raissman writes Jets GM John Idzik is a "central figure" in the team's "soap opera, which is in its final stages." But CBS announcers Spero Dedes and Solomon Wilcots during Patriots-Jets yesterday "did not mention his name until there was about 7:48 left in the fourth quarter." They "correctly made an issue" of coach Rex Ryan's future and "what lies ahead for the Jets." But by the time they "got to Idzik, he was treated as an afterthought" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 12/22). In Dallas, Barry Horn notes as NBC did last week during Cowboys-Eagles, CBS yesterday "loved showing New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie" sitting in Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones’ box for the team's game against the Colts. Meanwhile, CBS also "wasn’t shy" about using "FreeD," the videogame-like replay system "that has been available at AT&T Stadium but seldom used." In its "first production of the season from the stadium, CBS went with the 'three-dimensional' toy after each" of Cowboys QB Tony Romo’s TD passes (DALLASNEWS.com, 12/21). The N.Y. DAILY NEWS' Raissman wrote there is "some discomfort on the set" of CBS Sports Network's "That Other Pregame Show," and it "involves analyst Amy Trask and fantasy guru Anita Marks." Marks "tends to crack wise to the more buttoned-down Trask" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 12/21).

TOE-TO-TOE: Fox’ Jay Glazer  on Friday discussed past confrontations he had with Broncos QB Peyton Manning and Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger. Glazer said he and Manning got into a heated argument during '07 Pro Bowl festivities when Manning said something off-color about Glazer’s long-time “best friend,” Pro Football HOFer Michael Strahan. ESPN’s Dan Le Batard asked, “So you did indeed say to Peyton Manning, ‘Bleep you I’ll beat your (bleep)?'" Glazer: “Yes. What am I going to say, ‘Bleep you come kick mine?’” Glazer added he and Roethlisberger had an altercation at the Tahoe Celebrity Golf Classic after Roethlisberger started saying “stupid stuff” when Glazer was caddying for former UFC fighter Chuck Liddell. Glazer: “It’s not like you need Ben to really say a lot for you to want to punch him in the face.” Glazer admitted he is “not the most mature guy in the world,” but that he and Roethlisberger are “great” now. Glazer did not specify the status of his relationship with Manning (“Highly Questionable,” ESPN2, 12/19).