Fox led all Week 8 NFL windows with a 14.7 overnight for its Sunday national window, which featured Packers-Falcons in 98% of markets. That figure is down 25% from a 19.5 last year, when the net featured Seahawks-Cowboys in Week 8. Fox also drew a 6.8 overnight for its London matchup yesterday morning, which saw Redskins-Bengals finish in a tie and bleed into the 1:00pm ET NFL windows. That 6.8 is up 15% from a 5.9 overnight for Lions-Chiefs last year, and up slightly from a 6.6 for Lions-Falcons in '14. Meanwhile, NBC drew an 11.6 overnight for Eagles-Cowboys last night, which was well below the rating for Fox' Indians-Cubs World Series Game 5 in the same window. NBC also will likely finish second in primetime to Fox for Sunday. The Eagles-Cowboys "SNF" telecast drew a 34.9 local rating in Dallas-Ft. Worth and a 32.8 rating in Philadelphia. CBS also saw an 8% gain for its Week 8 singleheader, which featured Patriots-Bills in 50% of markets. Once that game got out of hand, several markets flipped to the Raiders' comeback over the Buccaneers (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).
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NFL WEEK 8 SUNDAY OVERNIGHT RATINGS
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NET
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'16 TELECAST
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RAT.
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'15 TELECAST
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RAT.
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% +/-
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Fox
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Redskins-Bengals
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6.8
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Lions-Chiefs
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5.9
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15.3%
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CBS
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(single)
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10.3
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(single)
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9.5
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8.4%
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Fox
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(regional)
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9.0
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(regional)
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10.9
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-17.4%
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Fox
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Packers-Falcons (98%)
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14.7
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Seahawks-Cowboys (97%)
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19.5
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-24.6%
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NBC
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Packers-Broncos
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11.6
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Packers-Broncos
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14.3
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-18.9%
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SEARCHING FOR ANSWERS: Former Fox Sports Chair David Hill said that the NFL's ratings dip is a "'storm in a teacup' and argued the downturn is not a harbinger of long-term trouble for the league." Hill: "It's still the most popular thing on television." He added, "All traditional sports are going to suffer declines because of the audience of millennials who have broken the habit of their fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers of sitting in front of the TV. They're used to far more varied things" (
L.A. TIMES, 10/30). ESPN's Chris Berman said, "The league has to decide, with everything on, is it as special as it used to be? I don't mean going back to the '80s when we just got two games. I just mean is it still as special now, when you have games on all the time?" Berman added that the "lack of super-teams may make some of the games less compelling." Berman: "Do people say, 'I'll watch it tomorrow, I'll watch it later today, I have something to do and there's another game on tomorrow.' I think a little bit has caught up with them, I hate to say it, and I'll tell the commissioner that if he asks me" (
BUFFALO NEWS, 10/30). In N.Y., Bob Raissman wrote many of the NFL's primetime matchups this season have been "putrid" (
N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 10/30). In Albany, Pete Iorizzo wrote he a "problem for the NFL is, fantasy sports players don't have to watch football," and their "primary interest isn't who won, but only who scored." Iorizzo: "So why bother with a four-hour broadcast ... when you can just find the fantasy numbers on your phone?" (
Albany TIMES UNION, 10/20).
SAME AS IT EVER WAS: In Minneapolis, Matt Vensel noted some Vikings players "scoffed at the notion that NFL games have gotten ugly." Vikings DE Brian Robison said, "If people are going to sit here and say that the quality of play has dipped, I invite every one of them to come out and play this game." Vikings S Harrison Smith said, "This is the highest level of football, and I don't see (the level of play) being any different from any other year I've been in the league" (STARTRIBUNE.com, 10/28).
NOTHING TO SEE HERE: Patriots President Jonathan Kraft said that he "did not storm out of an owners meeting this past week" after an argument with Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones "over the league's new social-media policy that prohibits teams from publishing game highlights to their accounts." Kraft, appearing on Boston-based WBZ-FM yesterday, said, "It was not a heated exchange. I had planned on leaving early ... I definitely didn't storm out. I wanted to get home to a high school football game." Kraft said Jones "had some thoughts" on the league's policy. Kraft: "I would never walk out of a discourse. ... Whoever told them about it, they didn't have all the facts right" (CSNNE.com, 10/30).
