CBS led NFL Week 13 Sunday ratings with a 19.2 overnight for its national window, which featured Patriots-Packers in 98% of markets. That figure is tied with Fox’ Cowboys-Seahawks figure from Oct. 12 as the best for any NFL window this season to date. It also is CBS’ best NFL regular-season overnight in three years, dating back to a 19.5 for Patriots-Broncos in December ’11. The close Patriots-Packers matchup yesterday peaked at a 22.0 rating from 7:00-7:30pm ET. CBS also drew a 10.1 for its early regional window, down 16%. Meanwhile, NBC drew a 13.2 overnight for Broncos-Chiefs on “SNF” yesterday, up 9% from Giants-Redskins in Week 13 last year. The gain comes despite the Broncos having a 17-0 lead in the second quarter. “SNF” was the top-rated show in primetime yesterday. Denver led all markets with a 46.6 local rating, while K.C. drew a 38.0 (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).
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NFL WEEK 13 OVERNIGHT RATINGS
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NET
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'14 GAME
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RAT.
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'13 GAME
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RAT.
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% +/-
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Fox (Thanksgiving)
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Eagles-Cowboys
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15.0
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Packers-Lions
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14.1
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6.4%
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CBS (Thanksgiving)
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Bears-Lions
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15.3
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Raiders-Cowboys
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14.8
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3.4%
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NBC (Thanksgiving)
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Seahawks-49ers
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12.5
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Steelers-Ravens
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11.8
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5.9%
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Fox
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(single)
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10.2
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(single)
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10.8
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-5.6%
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CBS
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(regional)
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10.1
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(regional)
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12.0
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-15.8%
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CBS
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Patriots-Packers (98%)
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19.2
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Broncos-Chiefs (86%)
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17.4
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10.3%
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NBC
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Broncos-Chiefs
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13.2
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Giants-Redskins
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12.1
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9.1%
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BOOTH REVIEW: In Baltimore, David Zurawik writes CBS yesterday "turned in a solid telecast" for Chargers-Ravens, as it "was above average in almost every respect for an NFL telecast by a second-string team," which in this case featured Ian Eagle, Dan Fouts and Jenny Dell. Fouts "was certainly fair to the Ravens -- and ... even generous in some of the things he said about them." Eagle "is professional, business-like, focused, and constantly keeping the viewer in the game by re-setting the table and referring to what’s at stake for the teams as they near postseason play." Dell "clearly sees herself as a reporter, not a showboat personality." She "was behind social media on some of the injury reports Sunday," like that of Ravens WR Marlon Brown, but, "then again, she has the obligation of confirming her information before reporting it" (
Baltimore SUN, 12/1). Meanwhile, in N.Y., Bob Raissman writes NFL Network "GameDay Morning" analyst Marshall Faulk "is becoming more entertaining and even more unpredictable." Faulk "doesn’t care whom he ticks off." Contrary to the "human laugh tracks he works with, Faulk was not amused after video aired of Bill Belichick saying what Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers have in common 'is the number 12.'" Faulk: "He is a jerk for doing that. And we just empowered him" (
N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 12/1).
SKED SKID: The N.Y. DAILY NEWS' Raissman wrote NFL execs "hijacked" Fox Sports' schedule. Raissman: "What better evidence of the imbalance between the AFC (CBS) and NFC (Fox) than the league scheduling six NFC teams on Thanksgiving. Fox got Eagles-Cowboys, but the other two tilts Bears-Lions (CBS), Seahawks-Niners (NBC) would have been ticketed to Fox at some point this season." Fox execs "pay a premium for rights to the NFC only to be ripped off by having multiple games cherry-picked by the NFL" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 11/30). Meanwhile, in N.Y., Phil Mushnick noted just before halftime of Eagles-Cowboys on Thursday, Fox "presented a close-up" of Cowboys WR Cole Beasley, who "had just lost a fumble, mouthing 'motherf--r,' on tape and in slow-motion." Elsewhere, late in the third quarter of Bears-Lions on CBS, Bears DE Willie Young sacked Lions QB Matthew Stafford with a "clearly illegal two-armed yank of Stafford’s head." Mushnick: "Flag flew. But Young did a me-dance anyway. Almost as bad, CBS’ Jim Nantz and Phil Simms said nothing about that" (N.Y. POST, 11/30).
DOTTING THEIR EYES: In N.Y., Richard Sandomir noted the motivation behind CBS carrying a half-season of Thursday NFL broadcasts "was to broaden the audience for games that had been the exclusive domain of NFL Network." The plan "worked," as CBS' seven primetime games through Oct. 23 averaged 16.67 million viewers, more than the 13.6 million "MNF" has drawn on ESPN. The audience for the four games carried exclusively by NFL Network, starting with Saints-Panthers on Oct. 30, "has fallen to 8.47 million." That "would seem to be a crisis -- a near halving of viewership" -- but "it is not." In those four NFL Net-only games, viewing is up 12% from the comparable weeks last season. NFL Exec VP/Media and NFL Network CEO Brian Rolapp last week said that while Thursday-night audiences "had been on the upswing, CBS’s impact had been felt as well." He added that the four non-CBS games "have had increases in women older than 18" (up 9%) and adults 55 and over (up 23%), "partly a result of CBS’s broadcasts and promotion." Rolapp: "That’s helped funnel audiences that weren’t there a year ago" (N.Y. TIMES, 11/27).
