Our friends at Fox Sports have sent a press release crowing about the ratings for the first two weeks of the 2011 NFL regular season. According to Fox, it has averaged 12.2 rating with a 25 share. Average viewership is 20.5 million. All are up from last year’s numbers, 11.7/25, 19.6 million. And Fox is seeing higher ratings in key male demographics and setting records as well.
Fox NFL Sunday, the network’s pregame show is also seeing its highest ratings since 2001 averaging a 3.6/9 for the first two weeks of the season. However, Fox’s NFC markets usually outrate the AFC’s smaller markets by a wide margin so this is not surprising. So let’s take a look at the press blurb from Fox Sports.
NFL ON FOX OFF TO BEST START EVER
The 2011 NFL ON FOX is on a record-setting pace after the first two weeks of play, according to figures released today by Nielsen Media Research.
The NFL ON FOX is averaging a 12.2/25 household rating/share with an average audience of 20.5 million viewers through the season’s first two weeks, eclipsing last year’s two-week record setting mark (11.7/25, 19.6 million) by +4% in rating and +5% in audience. New two-week ratings records have also been established in all key demographics: M18-34, 10.1; M18-49, 11.2; M25-54, 12.1; and A18-49, 8.1. All eclipse records set a year ago except M18-34, which beats the previous high set in 2002 (9.5).
The NFL ON FOX’s Week 2 single-header posted a 13.2/28 HH rating/share, with 22.5 million viewers, +25% better in rating than FOX’s Week 2 single-header a year ago (10.6/23), and +26% in average audience (17.8 million). Sunday’s 13.2 rating is FOX’s best Week 2 single-header number since posting a 13.4 in 1994, and ties as FOX’s best single-header overall since scoring a 14.0 in Week 7, 1999. The 22.5 million viewers are the most to tune into an NFL ON FOX single-header since Week 15 in 1995 (23.4 million).
FOX NFL SUNDAY, America’s No. 1 pregame show since its 1994 inception, is also off to a strong start, posting a 3.6/9 HH rating/share with 5.6 million viewers, its best initial two-week rating and audience since 2001 (4.6/12, 6.5 million). The Week 2 show scored a 3.4/9 HH rating/share, with 5.1 million viewers, +13% in rating (3.0) and +11% in audience (4.6 million) compared to Week 2 a year ago.
This week’s edition of The Journey, which opens the show, is narrated by actor Hugh Jackman and Pam Oliver interviews the Detroit Lions’ Matthew Stafford, Calvin Johnson and Kyle Vanden Bosch to discuss the team’s good start and how it’s impacting the city.
More stuff is on the way.
