Fox drew 28.88 million viewers for its NFL national window on Sunday, which featured the Cowboys' comeback win over the Steelers, marking the most-viewed NFL window this season to date and helping Fox' audience get closer to even for the season. After initially being lower in overnight ratings than CBS' Week 10 national window last year (Patriots-Giants), Fox' Cowboys-Steelers finished above that window's 28.32 million viewers. Fox' national windows this season to date are averaging 25.9 million viewers, down 3% from last year, but still the best audience for any program on TV. For Fox' complete slate of NFL games, the net is averaging 19.4 million viewers, down 2% compared to the same period last year. Meanwhile, CBS finished Week 10 with 13.16 million viewers for its singleheader window on Sunday, which featured only four games and marked the net's lowest singleheader window this season to date. The decline has pushed CBS' overall Sunday NFL average this season to 16.7 million viewers, down 11% (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).
KEEP PLAYING POLITICS: The NFL performed well this past Sunday with some marquee matchups, but it got no respite from political coverage. Fox News, CNN and MSNBC combined to average 2.75 million viewers on Sunday from 1:00-7:30pm ET opposite NFL games, above the 2.65 million viewers that those nets averaged on Sundays in that window from Weeks 1-9 (prior to Election Day). The 2.65 million viewers was 98% higher than what Fox News/CNN/MSNBC averaged in the 1:00-7:30pm window in Weeks 1-9 last season, and 53% higher than the average in '12 during the last election. Fox also drew its 28.88 million viewers for the NFL national window up against a highly-rated "60 Minutes" on CBS, which featured the first post-election TV interview with President-elect Trump. Fox' national window did not end until 8:20pm, with "60 Minutes" running from 7:00-8:00pm (Karp).
WHY THE LONG FACE? PRO FOOTBALL TALK's Mike Florio said of the ratings from strong matchups in Week 10, "That may have been the planets lining up the right way. Until that happens again from a scheduling standpoint, the ratings are going to continue to suffer. ... This will be a week in and week out struggle for the NFL. ... The big thing for me is going to be the postseason. I want to see apple to apples, how the playoff games do from this year to last year" (“PFT,” NBCSN, 11/16). But former 49ers COO Andy Dolich said NFL ratings remain "solid." Dolich: "We're getting to the point where games really matter. The competitive balance is there, the ratings will be there and when we finally decide how we rate digital devices, the NFL is still going to be king of the jungle" ("Sports Talk Live," CSN Bay Area, 11/14).
JUST TOO MUCH: NBC's Bob Costas yesterday discussed NFL ratings, noting that despite the audience "trending a bit downward," figures this season are down from a "tremendous peak." Disgarding the "historic World Series," ratings for NFL games are "significantly higher than any sport." Costas cited "overexposure" of NFL games and "quality of play" as issues affecting the game ("Going Deep with Amani & Dan," NBC Sports Radio, 11/15). In Colorado Springs, Woody Paige writes Thursday games are "killing the NFL." While "MNF" was among the "greatest inventions in history," the Thursday package of games is a "greedy sham started by league officials in 2006 purely to promote the piggishness presence of NFL Network." Paige: "Who actually wants to watch professional football three nights a week and all day on Sunday? Add college football on Tuesday-Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights and all day Saturday. Bettors, fantasy players and someone who watches games for work (me) are worn out" (Colorado Springs GAZETTE, 11/16).
TROUBLES ON THE HOME FRONT: In Chicago, Lewis Lazare wrote under the header, "Bears Are A Sinking Ship In Television Ratings." The 2-7 Bears are "losing their allure" in the Chicago TV market. Sunday's Bears-Buccaneers game on Fox drew a "rather embarrassing" 17.4 local rating in Chicago, which is "low by Bears' standards" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 11/14). Meanwhile, in Baltimore, Edward Lee writes local affiliate WJZ-CBS "would not disclose its ratings for Ravens games this season." The station has "released numbers in past years, when ratings have been up" (Baltimore SUN, 11/16).
