With a play-in game with the winner heading to the playoffs and the loser going home, NBC received its highest overnight rating ever for the Sunday Night Football series. The Dallas Cowboys-New York Giants game received a 17.1 rating and a 27 share. That’s quite high. It’s 36% higher than last year’s St. Louis Rams-Seattle Seahawks NFC West play-in game which received a 12.6/19.
The previous overnight ratings high was from Week 1 of this season between the Cowboys and the New York Jets which had a 16.9/27.
NBC says this is the highest overnight for a NFL primetime game since 1998 when the Miami Dolphins-Denver Broncos got a 17.4/27 on ABC. Let’s say that this is quite impressive.
The NBC press release.
COWBOYS-GIANTS EARNS BEST OVERNIGHT RATING IN SIX-YEAR HISTORY OF “SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL”
17.1 is Best Overnight for ANY Sunday/Monday Primetime Game in 13 Years
Up 36% From Week 17 “Win-and-In” Game Last Year
SNF Is No. 1 Show of Night and Leads NBC to Sunday Night Win
Dallas Leads Metered Markets With 37.1/55 New York is 4th With 25.3/38NEW YORK – January 2, 2012 – The Cowboys-Giants game on NBC earned the highest overnight rating in the six-year history of Sunday Night Football on NBC, according to overnight data released today by The Nielsen Company.
Last night’s game on NBC, in which the Giants defeated the Cowboys, 31-14, to win the NFC East, registered a 17.1 overnight rating and a 27 share, 36 percent higher than last year’s Week 17 game (Rams-Seahawks, 12.6/19), which was also a win-and-in game to determine the winner of the NFC West, and topped the previous high Sunday Night Football overnight by one percent (Cowboys-Jets, 16.9/27 in Week 1 this season).
Other Ratings Notes:
- Best overnight for ANY NFL primetime Sunday or Monday game in 13 years (Broncos-Dolphins, 17.4/27, Dec. 21, 1998 on ABC).
- Best overnight rating for an NFL primetime regular-season final game in 17 years (49ers-Vikings, 19.6/33, Dec. 26, 1994 on ABC).
TOP 10 SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL OVERNIGHT RATING/SHARE EVER:
*Sunday’s only1. 1/1/12, Cowboys-Giants 17.1/27 (Last Night’s Game)
2. 9/11/11, Cowboys-Jets 16.9/27 (2011 SNF Week 1)
T3. 9/20/09, Giants-Cowboys 16.5/27 (Dallas Cowboys Stadium Debut)
T3. 12/12/10, Eagles-Cowboys 16.5/25 (2010 SNF Week 14)
5. 9/12/10, Cowboys-Redskins 16.4/26 (2010 SNF Opener)
6. 12/11/11, Giants-Cowboys 16.1/25 (2011 SNF Opener)
7. 10/24/10, Vikings/Packers 16.0/25 (Favre’s Return to Lambeau II)
8. 11/21/10, Giants-Eagles 15.9/24 (2010 SNF Week 11)
9. 9/18/11, Eagles-Falcons 15.7/25 (2011 SNF Week 2)
10. 11/25/07, Eagles-Patriots 15.6/24 (2007 SNF Week 12)*9/9/10, Vikings-Saints, 17.7/28 (2010 Thursday Night Opener)
*9/8/11, Saints-Packers, 17.2/28 (2011 Thursday Night Opener)TOP 10 METERED MARKETS FOR COWBOYS-GIANTS:
1. Dallas, 37.1/55
2. San Antonio, 27.2/39
3. Austin, 26.3/42
T4. New York, 25.3/38
T4. Albuquerque, 25.3/38
T6. New Orleans, 24.7/34
T6. Richmond, 24.7/36
8. Washington D.C., 22.2/37
9. Norfolk, 22.0/32
10. Las Vegas, 21.8/33NBC NO. 1 ON SUNDAY NIGHT: Last night’s Sunday Night Football broadcast won the highest-rated program of the night. NBC led the night among metered markets in primetime (7-11 p.m. ET) with a 12.9/21, topping the 7.5/12 for CBS, which was boosted by an NFL overrun. NBC also beat Fox (3.0/5) by 330 percent and ABC (2.5/4) by 416 percent.
**Viewership numbers will be available when national ratings are released on Wednesday**
That’s it for now.
