Fox earned a 17.1 final Nielsen rating and 28.4 million viewers for its NFL national window on Sunday featuring Cowboys-Patriots in 88% of U.S. markets, marking the highest-rated telecast of any kind since ABC earned a 21.2 rating for the "Academy Awards" last February. The telecast also marked Fox’ highest-rated NFL regular-season telecast since its national window featured Brett Favre's return to Green Bay in '09 for a Vikings-Packers game, as well as the net’s sixth highest-rated regular-season telecast ever. Compared to Fox’ Week Six national window last year, which featured Cowboys-Vikings, the net saw a 9% ratings bump. The telecast ranked first across all TV programs last week among all key adult and male demos, and even marked the top telecast among all key female demos (Fox).
| HIGHEST-RATED '11 NFL REGULAR-SEASON GAMES THROUGH WEEK SIX |
| RK | NET | DATE | GAME | RAT. | VIEWERS (000) |
| 1 | Fox | 10/16 | Cowboys-Patriots (to 88% of U.S. markets) | 17.1 | 28,400 |
| 2 | NBC | 9/8 | Saints-Packers (NFL Kickoff) | 16.0 | 27,169 |
| 3 | Fox | 9/11 | Giants-Redskins (to 63% of U.S. markets) | 15.3 | 25,802 |
| 4 | NBC | 9/11 | Cowboys-Jets | 15.3 | 25,766 |
| 5 | NBC | 9/18 | Eagles-Falcons | 14.3 | 23,424 |
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UNDER THE LIGHTS: NBC finished with a 10.1 final rating and 16.6 million viewers for its Vikings-Bears “SNF” telecast, marking the net’s lowest-rated NFL game this season. Those figures are down 14% and 13%, respectively, from an 11.7 rating and 19.1 million viewers for Colts-Redskins in Week Six last year. The game did mark the most-viewed program for the night, giving “SNF” six straight weeks of primetime wins. The program also marked the fourth best audience among all primetime TV programs for the week ending Oct. 16 (NBC). In N.Y., Neil Best noted from ’06-08, “back in the heyday of ‘Desperate Housewives’” on ABC, “SNF” was the top program in primetime “on 33 of 48 occasions.” From ’09-11, the telecast “has been No. 1 for its night every week but one,” with the exception being a second-place finish to Fox’ Yankees-Angels ALCS Game Six in ‘09, “which had been delayed one night by rain” (NEWSDAY.com, 10/17). Meanwhile, ESPN earned a 7.8 U.S. rating and 12.1 million viewers for the Dolphins-Jets “MNF” telecast, up 26% and 25%, respectively, from a 6.2 rating and 9.7 million viewers for the Titans-Jaguars, which marked the net’s smallest “MNF” audience last season. The increase marks ESPN’s first year-over-year “MNF” audience gain. The game also delivered ESPN a win in primetime among all nets in each key male demo, as well as adults 18-34 (ESPN).
