NFL Week 13 Overnights: Fox' Panthers-Saints Is League's Third-Best Overnight For '15

Fox led all Week 13 NFL overnight ratings with an 18.2 for the national window yesterday afternoon, marking the third-best NFL game overnight this season to date. The window featured Panthers-Saints in 61% of markets, while Eagles-Patriots was carried in 35%. While that rating is strong for '15, it is below CBS' 19.2 overnight for Patriots-Packers in Week 13 last year. Fox also drew an 11.0 overnight for its regional coverage yesterday, marking the net's best regional window this season to date. NBC's Colts-Steelers last night drew a 12.2 overnight, giving NBC a primetime win. But that figure is down 8% from Broncos-Chiefs last year. The Steelers' 35-point victory drew a 40.3 local rating in Pittsburgh and a 33.5 in Indianapolis. Figures for all weekend telecasts in the Greensboro, Greenville-Spartanburg, Knoxville and Raleigh-Durham markets were delayed at presstime (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).

DOCTOR MY EYES: In N.Y., Bob Raissman writes there is nothing worse than when a network "tries force-feeding new technology down the eyeballs of NFL viewers," which was the case with CBS’ "Multiview." The technology was used during Jets-Giants yesterday and "broke one play into three split screen angles." It was "hard to follow, unless you have three sets of eyeballs," and it also "served to distract." CBS is "likely trying to roll this out for use in its Super Bowl 50 telecast" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 12/7). Also in N.Y., Phil Mushnick notes CBS rolled out Multiview three times during the first half, and by the time viewers could "choose which mini-replay to watch -- no time to select which of the three was best unless they appeared one at a time -- the replays vanished." Three times, this "absurd idea was presented as an extra-special treat to those who prefer to watch three small moving pictures at once rather than one large one at a time" (N.Y. POST, 12/7).

TAKE YOUR PICK: In Baltimore, David Zurawik wrote he had "no major complaints and several modest way-to-goes for CBS in its coverage of the Ravens' 15-13 loss to the Dolphins." Analyst Steve Tasker during the pregame analysis mentioned Ravens QB Matt Schaub's "penchant for the pick-six" interceptions. This played out when Dolphins DE Derrick Shelby "tipped a pass, caught it and lumbered into the end zone for a 22-yard touchdown" inthe second quarter. Tasker "certainly put his pre-game finger on the problem with Schaub." Zurawik wrote he "had to laugh" during halftime when play-by-play announcer Andrew Catalon set up analyst Steve Beuerlein to "explain why Schaub has thrown so many interceptions that have been run back from touchdowns like the one by Shelby" (BALTIMORESUN.com, 11/6).

PAYING RESPECT: Fox broadcast their pre- and post-game shows yesterday from Pearl Harbor as part of the net's efforts to commemorate the 74th anniversary of the bombing there. The set was positioned between the USS Arizona and the USS Missouri, and throughout the broadcast of "Fox NFL Sunday," the names of people who lost their lives during the Pearl Harbor attack were shown at the bottom of the screen. Fox’ Curt Menefee said, "It is just a small way that we will try and remember them throughout the show” (“Fox NFL Sunday,” 12/6).

NATIONAL PECKING ORDER: In Dallas, Barry Horn noted the fact that the Cowboys will "make their season debut" on ESPN tonight against the Redskins is "exhibit 'A' for the airtight case that the NFL treats ESPN like a stepchild when it comes to scheduling games." The Cowboys have "already played three national Sunday night games on NBC, three national day contests on Fox, and two on CBS." The Cowboys "will be back on national television Dec. 13 when they travel to Green Bay" to play the Packers on Fox. Even the league's own "relatively lightly distributed NFL Network gets the Cowboys once a season" (DALLASNEWS.com, 12/4).

GETTING POLITICAL: SI.com's Richard Deitsch profiled NBC's Michele Tafoya and wrote one of the "interesting things about Tafoya's personal Twitter feed is that it's very politically oriented." She has been "critical of GOP moderators, Hilary Clinton and many other topics," something fans "don't regularly see from high-profile sports TV people." Her Twitter handle "used to have NBC Sports in it but after using social media to promote certain candidates in her native Minnesota," NBC Sports Exec Producer Sam Flood "told Tafoya that the network was fine with her political advocacy but asked her to remove the NBC Sports part from her handle." She did, and has "not heard from her network since." Tafoya said that she "does ask her NBC Sports bosses for permission to speak publicly on behalf of certain candidates she favors, and to serve on committees promoting certain candidates" (SI.com, 12/6).