NBC Says Sunday Night Football Wins Primetime Ratings For 13th Straight Week

From NBC Sports, the overnight ratings for last night’s epic brawl between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens did very well. Here’s the press release. Let’s just say they’re up all around, from last year, from last week. You get the idea.

“SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL” STEELERS-RAVENS EARNS 14.6 OVERNIGHT; NO. 1 SHOW ON SUNDAY NIGHT FOR 13TH STRAIGHT WEEK

Tops Last Year’s Week 12 Ravens-Steelers OT Game by 16%

Beats Last Year’s Week 13 Game by 7%

Pittsburgh (54.4) and Baltimore (47.6) Lead All Metered Markets

SNF Powers NBC to Another Sunday Night Win

NEW YORK – December 6, 2010 – Last night’s “Sunday Night Football” game was the top-rated show on Sunday night for 13^th straight week, led NBC to another Sunday night win and was up seven percent over last year’s Week 13 game, according to overnight data released today by the Nielsen Company. The game, in which the Steelers beat the Ravens 13-10 in a battle for first place in the AFC North, registered a 14.6 overnight rating and a 23 share.

• The overnight for last night’s game is up 16 percent from when these two teams met in an overtime thriller in Week 12 last year with the Ravens winning 20-17 (12.6/20).

• The 14.6/23 overnight rating is an increase of seven percent over last year’s Week 13 game that featured Brett Favre’s first appearance on “Sunday Night Football” as a member of the Vikings (Vikings-Cardinals, 13.7/21).

• The rating peaked at a 15.2/22 from 9:30-10 p.m. ET just before halftime. At the end of the game the rating jumped back up to a 15.1/28 (11-11:45 p.m. ET).

• The 14.6 overnight is the sixth-highest overnight for a “Sunday Night Football” game this season and the best Week 13 game in the five-year history of SNF.

“SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL” WEEK 13 THROUGH THE YEARS:

1. 2010, Steelers-Ravens, 14.6/22

2. 2009, Vikings-Cardinals, 13.7/21 – up seven percent

3. 2008, Bears-Vikings, 11.1/17 – up 32 percent

4. 2006, Seahawks-Broncos, 10.9/17 – up 34 percent

5. 2007, Bengals-Steelers, 10.5/16 – up 39 percent

DEFEATED ALL SUNDAY NIGHT COMPETITION: Last night’s “Sunday Night Football” broadcast defeated all Sunday Night competition for the 13^th time in 13 weeks, on a night that included such original competition as CBS’s 60 Minutes, Amazing Race, Undercover Boss and CSI: Miami, Fox’s Simpsons, Cleveland Show and American Dad and ABC’s Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters.

• “Sunday Night Football” powered NBC to a Sunday night win in primetime (7-11 p.m.) topping second place Fox (which was aided by an NFL overrun) by 28 percent. NBC also beat CBS by 45 percent and ABC by 91 percent.

SNF IS 13 FOR 13: When the viewership is available tomorrow from Nielsen, “Sunday Night Football” is expected to be the most-watched Sunday night show for the 13^th consecutive week (every week this season). Last season, SNF was the most-watched Sunday night primetime broadcast in a record 15 of 16 (94 percent) weeks. In 2008, SNF won 13 of 16 (81 percent) Sunday nights after winning 11 of 16 in 2007 (69 percent) and nine of 16 in 2006 (56 percent). 

TOP METERED MARKETS FOR STEELERS-RAVENS:

1. Pittsburgh, 54.4/71

2. Baltimore, 47.6/65

3. New Orleans, 21.7/29

4. Las Vegas, 21.5/32

5. Norfolk, 20.7/30

T6. Washington, D.C., 17.3/27

T6. Philadelphia, 17.3/26

T6. Richmond, 17.3/26

9. Nashville, 17.2/24

10. Kansas City, 16.5/24

Back later.