CBS and NFL Network drew a combined 11.9 overnight rating for the Giants' 32-21 win over the Redskins on "Thursday Night Football," up 40% from an 8.5 overnight for Buccaneers-Falcons in Week 3 last season. The 11.9 is below the record-setting 14.3 overnight seen last week for the Broncos' come-from-behind win over the Chiefs. Last night's game peaked at a 12.9 rating from 9:30-10:00pm ET. Through two games, "TNF" is averaging a 13.2 overnight, up 20% from an 11.0 at the same point last year (CBS).
AT WHAT COST? SPORTING NEWS' Jesse Spector wrote the NFL is "putting a diluted version of its product on the air once a week," and while the money generated from its deal with CBS is "nice, it comes at the price of customers walking away shaking their heads." In addition to a safety and a "festival of field goals," Thursday night's broadcast featured "penalties and missed timing and promos for sitcoms that will be canceled and more penalties." However, the "sad truth is that this game ... might not even be in the lower half of Thursday Night Football games this year." The league should "make things better by scheduling teams for off-weeks before they appear in the middle of the week" (SPORTINGNEWS.com, 9/24).
THE PRICE IS RIGHT: AD AGE's Jeanine Poggi noted while football "continues to dominate as the most expensive broadcast programming for advertisers, for the first time in many years a scripted show is giving it a run for its money." Fox' "Empire" is costing advertisers $497,364 on average for a 30-second commercial, "positioning it as the No. 2 most expensive broadcast show this fall" in primetime. The "last time a broadcast drama fetched such high prices" was during the '07-08 TV season, when ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" averaged $419,000. But the NFL "still reigns," with "SNF" on NBC "once again the costliest program on broadcast, averaging $603,000 for 30 seconds of commercial time." CBS' "TNF" comes in at No. 3, averaging $464,625, "down one spot from last year." ESPN's "MNF" costs around $400,000 for commercial time (ADAGE.com, 9/24).
