CBS led all NFL Week Five Sunday telecasts with a 15.6 overnight Nielsen rating for its national window featuring Jets-Patriots in 81% of markets. That figure marks CBS’ best NFL national window of the season and is up 7% from the net’s national window in Week Five last year, which featured Titans-Cowboys. The net averaged a 9.1 overnight for regional coverage in the 1:00pm ET window, up 10%. NBC earned a 14.0 overnight for last night’s Packers-Falcons “SNF” telecast, up 20% from an 11.7 overnight for the Eagles-49ers game in Week Five last year. The game led NBC to another Sunday primetime win among all nets and marks NBC’s best Week Five “SNF” overnight since it acquired rights prior to the ‘06 season. Milwaukee averaged a 51.2 local rating for the game to lead all metered markets, while Atlanta finished second with a 28.0 rating. Fox finished with a 10.7 overnight for its NFL singleheader, down 16% from Week Five last year (Austin Karp, THE DAILY).
| OVERNIGHT RATINGS FOR NFL WEEK FOUR SUNDAY TELECASTS |
| NET | '11 GAME | RAT. | '10 GAME | RAT. | % +/- |
| Fox | (single) | 10.7 | (single) | 12.7 | -15.7% |
| CBS | (regional) | 9.1 | (regional) | 8.3 | 9.6% |
| CBS | Jets-Patriots (81%) | 15.6 | Titans-Cowboys (86%) | 14.6 | 6.8% |
| NBC | Packers-Falcons | 14.0 | Eagles-49ers | 11.7 | 19.7% |
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COACH SPEAK: In Miami, Barry Jackson wrote Fox' Jim Mora and NBC's Tony Dungy "have become two of the best listens among recent-coaches-turned-analysts" in part due to their "willingness to criticize coaching decisions." Mora during the Oct. 2 49ers-Eagles game "made a good point in questioning why the 49ers threw three straight passes after a 40-yard run." Meanwhile, Jackson wrote while Fox "wisely moved its NFL score ticker to the bottom of the screen this year," it took the net "four weeks to realize it needed to insert player statistics besides the scores" (MIAMIHERALD.com, 10/7).
A CASE OF THE MONDAYS: In DC, Tracee Hamilton wrote the absence of Hank Williams Jr. is the "least of the problems" for ESPN's "MNF." During the early days of the series, it was a "special production; it didn't look or sound like the Sunday telecasts." Hamilton: "These days, I can take it or leave it, and most Mondays, I leave it. That has nothing to do with Williams and more to do with ... the singularly unexciting trio in the booth." Play-by-play announcer Mike Tirico "is a pro," but analysts Jon Gruden and Ron Jaworski "force me to hit the mute button all too often." Jaworski is "great on his own, when he's breaking down film," and the same "might even be true of Gruden." However, the three-man booth "may be one too many." Hamilton: "The Sunday night crew on NBC, on the other hand, is two guys ... and that's just the right number. Throw in Michele Tafoya from the sideline and you've got the perfect crew" (WASHINGTON POST, 10/9). Meanwhile, a CHARLOTTE OBSERVER editorial noted Williams claimed his First Amendment rights "were violated" when he was dropped by ESPN, but the net was "just severing ties with a guy too obstinate to admit he made a boneheaded statement." "MNF" will be "better without that grating song anyway" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 10/8).
