NFL Ratings Generally Down, But "SNF" Beats Emmys

Overnight ratings for three of four NFL broadcast windows yesterday were down, with CBS' 1:00pm ET window charting the only increase.  The chart below presents all the NFL overnights from yesterday. 

NOTES: The 11.7 for Chargers-Patriots was 11.4% better than the Emmy Awards on Fox, which earned a 10.5/16, making NBC’s “SNF” the highest-rated telecast of the night on any network. NBC's "Football Night in America" spiked to a 7.1 during the 8:00-8:15pm window when NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell appeared in the studio (THE DAILY). 

TAPE GATE: The Patriots' videotape scandal was a prominent topic on all the NFL pregame shows yesterday.  Fox’ Jay Glazer obtained a copy of the tape in question and aired it during “Fox NFL Sunday.” A Fox spokesperson said that NBC did not ask for footage from the tapes, and “even if NBC had asked, it would have been denied” (N.Y. TIMES, 9/17). ProFootballTalk.com blogger Mike Florio, writing for SPORTINGNEWS.com, noted Glazer acquiring the tape has prompted “speculation in league circles” that Patriots Owner Bob Kraft “will complain loudly about the fact that the tape was leaked.” The other networks “could be complaining, too, because the appearance is that Fox got preferential treatment.” But a source indicated that the tape “was not leaked by the league office,” as “several copies of the tape were made” for people outside of the league office (SPORTINGNEWS.com, 9/16). In N.Y., Phil Mushnick writes that after showing two clips from the tapes, Fox “did nothing with them, nothing to explain what the coaches were signaling or how knowledge of those signals could specifically be used against the Jets (N.Y. POST, 9/17).

V-WHY? In Dallas, Barry Horn noted KEYE-CBS in Austin, which had been “a faithful Houston Texans station” since the team's inaugural year in ’02, chose Titans-Jaguars over Chiefs-Texans in Week One and Titans-Colts over Texans-Panthers in Week Two. Titans games on the station last season outrated Texans games by 60%. Horn: “Call it the Vince Young effect” (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 9/15).

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