Under The Lights: NFL Primetime Games On NBC, ESPN See Gains In '08
By Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor
Fox led all of the NFL's TV partners for the second consecutive season with a 10.5 average Nielsen rating for the '08 regular season, down 1.9% from a 10.7 rating last year. Fox also averaged 17.0 million viewers for its game telecasts, marking the net's third-most viewed NFL regular season, but down from 17.1 million viewers last year. On NBC's "Sunday Night Football," the net averaged a 10.2 rating (16.6 million viewers), up 2.0% from a 10.0 rating (16.0 million viewers) last season. When looking at local ratings for the season, NFL games were also the highest rated program 88% of the time, setting a new mark after last season's record of 86%.
|
'08 FINAL RATINGS FOR NFL REGULAR-SEASON GAMES^
|
|
NET
|
AVG. RATING
|
'07
|
% +/-
|
VIEWERS (000)
|
'07 (000)
|
% +/-
|
|
Fox
|
10.5
|
10.7
|
-1.9%
|
17,004
|
17,100
|
-0.6%
|
|
NBC*
|
10.2
|
10.0
|
2.0%
|
16,640
|
15,964
|
4.2%
|
|
CBS
|
10.0
|
10.3
|
-2.9%
|
16,222
|
16,566
|
-2.1%
|
| NOTES: ^ = '07 ratings for December 29 simulcast of Patriots-Giants game are not included in ratings for CBS and NBC. * = NBC ratings/viewers listed are for all 17 telecasts. When excluding the NFL Kickoff games, which started 90 minutes earlier in '08 than the Saints-Colts opener in '07 in order to accommodate the Republican National Convention, NBC averaged a 10.3 rating (16.834 million viewers) for 16 games, up 4.0% from a 9.9 rating (15.863 million viewers) last season. |
NATIONAL GAME AVERAGES: Fox had nine national games in the Sunday late window this regular season, averaging a 13.7 rating and 22.3 million viewers, down 0.7% from a 13.8 rating (22.2 million viewers) last season. For CBS' nine national games, the net averaged a 13.3 rating (21.8 million viewers), down 2.9% from a 13.7 rating (22.3 million viewers) last year.
|
FOX, CBS RATINGS FOR '08 NATIONAL GAME TELECASTS
|
|
TELECAST (Fox)
|
DATE
|
RAT.
|
TELECAST (CBS)
|
DATE
|
RAT.
|
| Cowboys-Steelers (90%) |
12/7
|
15.6
|
Steelers-Patriots; Broncos-Jets* |
11/30
|
15.4
|
| Giants-Cardinals (77%) |
11/23
|
14.5
|
Patriots-Jets (72%)
|
9/14
|
15.3
|
| Cowboys-Giants (87%) |
11/2
|
14.3
|
Steelers-Ravens (65%) |
12/14
|
14.7
|
|
Cowboys-Cardinals (74%)
|
10/12
|
14.7
|
Colts-Packers (48%) |
10/19
|
14.2
|
| Giants-Steelers (89%) |
10/26
|
13.8
|
Colts-Steelers (88%) |
11/9
|
13.6
|
|
Cowboys-Browns (85%)
|
9/7
|
13.0
|
Bengals-Cowboys (80%)
|
10/5
|
12.6
|
|
Redskins-Cowboys (96%)
|
9/28
|
13.0
|
Chargers-Steelers (65%) |
11/16
|
12.1
|
| Cowboys-Eagles (88%) |
12/28
|
12.4
|
Steelers-Eagles (60%)
|
9/21
|
12.0
|
| Falcons-Vikings (64%) |
12/21
|
11.8
|
Patriots-Bills (68%)** |
12/28
|
9.7
|
| NOTE: * = The CBS late-window telecast featured Steelers-Patriots in 46% of markets and Broncos-Jets in 45% of markets. ** = Aired as CBS' Week 17 national game in the 1:00pm ET window. |
MONDAY NIGHT: ESPN averaged an 8.9 cable rating for its third season of "MNF," up 3.5% from an 8.6 last season. ESPN was the most-viewed net in primetime on Monday -- cable or broadcast -- four times this Season. "MNF" drew cable's three most-viewed telecasts in '08, and 13 of the 15 most-viewed telecasts.
|
"MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL" RATINGS, VIEWERSHIP ON ESPN
|
|
NET
|
CABLE RATING
|
'07
|
% +/-
|
VIEWERS (000)
|
'07 (000)
|
% +/-
|
|
ESPN
|
8.9
|
8.6
|
3.5%
|
11,963
|
11,230
|
6.5%
|
| NOTE: ESPN's national rating average was a 7.6, up 4.1% from a 7.3 last year. |
NFL NETWORK: NFL Network's eight-game package averaged a 6.2 cable rating (4.6 million viewers), down 12.7% from last year's 7.1. This season, NFL Network's package of games started two weeks prior to Thanksgiving and included only one "Saturday Night Football" telecast, whereas telecasts began on Thanksgiving and included two Saturday night games each of the previous two seasons. The '07 average also includes the Patriots-Giants matchup, which was simulcast on NBC and CBS, and saw the Patriots complete the second undefeated regular season in NFL history.
|
RATINGS, VIEWERSHIP FOR GAMES ON NFL NETWORK
|
|
NET
|
CABLE RATING
|
'07
|
% +/-
|
VIEWERS (000)
|
'07 (000)
|
% +/-
|
|
NFLN
|
6.2
|
7.1
|
-12.7%
|
3,738
|
4,600
|
-18.7%
|
| NOTE: NFL Network averaged a 2.3 national rating for its eight games, down 14.8% from a 2.7 rating last year. |
PREGAME SHOWS: "Fox NFL Sunday" and CBS' "The NFL Today" both saw gains in ratings and viewership in '08, while on cable, ESPN's two pregame shows both saw declines from '07. NFL Network's "NFL GameDay Morning" averaged 270,000 viewers for its first season on-air.
|
NFL PRE-GAME SHOWS
|
|
SHOW
|
RATING
|
'07
|
% +/-
|
VIEWERS
(000)
|
'07 (000)
|
% +/-
|
| "Fox NFL Sunday" |
3.3
|
3.1
|
6.5%
|
4,800
|
4,600
|
4.3%
|
| "The NFL Today" (CBS) |
2.7
|
2.6
|
3.8%
|
3,966
|
3,730
|
6.3%
|
|
SHOW (NET)
|
CABLE RATING
|
'07
|
% +/-
|
VIEWERS
(000)
|
'07 (000)
|
% +/-
|
|
"Monday Night Countdown" (ESPN)
|
2.0
|
2.1
|
-4.8%
|
2,496
|
2,640
|
-5.5%
|
|
"Sunday NFL Countdown" (ESPN)
|
2.1
|
2.2
|
-4.5%
|
2,458
|
2,613
|
-5.9%
|
| "NFL GameDay Morning"* (NFLN) |
0.5
|
---
|
---
|
270
|
---
|
---
|
| NOTE: "NFL GameDay Morning" switched from a two-hour to a three-hour format beginning in Week 15. |
HIGHLIGHT SHOWS: "Football Night In America" on NBC averaged a 4.0 rating (6.3 million viewers) this regular season, off 2.4% from last year's 4.1 rating. On Fox, nine editions of "The OT" averaged a 6.9 rating (11.1 million viewers), flat with last year's rating.
|
NFL HIGHLIGHT SHOWS
|
|
SHOW (NET)
|
RATING
|
'07
|
% +/-
|
VIEWERS
(000)
|
'07 (000)
|
% +/-
|
| "The OT"* (Fox) |
6.9
|
6.9
|
0.0%
|
11,100
|
10,800
|
2.8%
|
|
"Football Night in America"^ (NBC)
|
4.0
|
4.1
|
-2.4%
|
6,317
|
6,259
|
0.9%
|
| NOTES: ^ = Ratings for "Football Night in America" are from 7:30-8:15pm ET, prior to kickoff for "Sunday Night Football." * = nine telecasts from 7:30-8:00pm ET following a Fox national game. |
TV STARS: The chart below shows the most-viewed NFL game telecasts by net for the '08 regular season.
|
'08 MOST-VIEWED NFL REGULAR-SEASON GAMES (BY NET)
|
|
NET
|
TELECAST
|
DATE
|
U.S.
RAT.
|
CABLE
RAT.
|
VIEWERS
(000)
|
|
CBS
|
Steelers-Patriots; Broncos-Jets*
|
11/30
|
15.4
|
---
|
25,500
|
|
CBS
|
Patriots-Jets (72%)
|
9/14
|
15.3
|
---
|
25,159
|
|
CBS
|
Steelers-Ravens (65%)
|
12/14
|
14.7
|
---
|
24,400
|
|
ESPN
|
Eagles-Cowboys
|
9/15
|
11.3
|
13.3
|
18,608
|
|
ESPN
|
Steelers-Redskins |
11/3
|
8.7
|
10.2
|
14,205
|
|
ESPN
|
Packers-Bears |
12/22
|
8.4
|
9.8
|
13,803
|
|
Fox
|
Cowboys-Steelers (90%) |
12/7
|
15.6
|
---
|
25,700
|
|
Fox
|
Cowboys-Cardinals (74%) |
10/12
|
14.7
|
---
|
23,653
|
|
Fox
|
Giants-Cardinals (77%) |
11/23
|
14.5
|
---
|
23,256
|
|
NBC
|
Giants-Cowboys |
12/14
|
13.7
|
---
|
23,053
|
|
NBC
|
Cowboys-Packers |
9/21
|
13.3
|
---
|
22,230
|
|
NBC
|
Cowboys-Redskins |
11/16
|
11.6
|
---
|
19,272
|
|
NFLN
|
Ravens-Cowboys |
12/20
|
3.4
|
9.2
|
5,759
|
|
NFLN
|
Jets-Patriots |
11/13
|
2.7
|
7.5
|
4,411
|
|
NFLN
|
Colts-Jaguars |
12/18
|
2.4
|
6.6
|
3,886
|
| NOTE: * = The CBS "national" telecast featured Steelers-Patriots in 46% of markets and Broncos-Jets in 45% of markets. |
|
