23.7 Million People Watch Tuesday Night Football and NBC is Very Happy

We all know that Sunday Night Football was delayed until Tuesday due to the snow in the Northeast. The game between Minnesota and Philadelphia was a big hit on Tuesday with a 13.8 rating and a 23 share. That’s up 27% from last year’s Week 16 game between Dallas and Washington. An average of 23.7 million people watched on Tuesday which is up 25% from last year and it marks the 11th time this season that Sunday Night Football went over the 20 million viewer mark. Needless to say, the NFL is huge.

Your press release from NBC Sports.

23.7 MILLION WATCH VIKINGS-EAGLES ON TUESDAY EDITION OF “SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL”

Up 25% From Last Year’s Week 16 Game

11^th SNF Game This Season to Surpass 20 Million Viewers

SNF Defeated Nightly Competition Every Week So Far This Season (16 For 16)

NEW YORK – December 30, 2010 – The special Tuesday edition of  “Sunday Night Football” was the most-watched show on Tuesday, the 16^th straight week that primetime football on NBC defeated its nightly competition. The game, which was originally scheduled to be played on Sunday but was postponed by the NFL due to severe weather in Philadelphia, was up 25 percent over last year’s Week 16 game, according to official national data released today by The Nielsen Company. 

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• The game, in which the Minnesota Vikings upset the Philadelphia Eagles, 24-14, in the first NFL Tuesday game since 1946, was seen by 23.7 million viewers (8:07-11:22 p.m. ET), a gain of 25 percent over last year’s Week 16 game (Cowboys-Redskins, 19.0 million) and is the fifth most-watched SNF game this season and the sixth most-watched ever on “Sunday Night Football.”

• This marks the 11^th NBC primetime NFL game this season to surpass 20 million viewers, the most through 16 weeks in NBC’s five-year “Sunday Night Football” history. There is one game remaining.

NBC PRIMETIME GAMES WITH 20 MILLION OR MORE VIEWERS

(Through 16 weeks)

2010 – 11

 2009 – 7

2008 – 2

2007 – 1

2006 – 3

MOST WATCHED “SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL” GAMES:

1. 12/12/10, Eagles-Cowboys, 25.73 million (SNF Week 14)

2. 10/24/10, Vikings-Packers, 25.68 million (Favre Return to Lambeau II)

3. 9/12/10, Cowboys-Redskins, 25.3 million (SNF: Week 1)

4. 9/20/09, Giants-Cowboys, 24.8 million (Dallas Cowboys stadium debut)

5. 12/19/10, Packers-Patriots, 24.2 million (SNF Week 15)

6. 12/28/10, Vikings-Eagles, 23.7 million (Tuesday Night’s Game)

7. 11/21/10, Giants-Eagles, 23.2 million (SNF: Week 11)

T8. 09/19/10, Giants-Colts, 23.1 million (“Manning Bowl II”)

T8. 12/14/08, Giants-Cowboys, 23.1 million

10. 9/10/06, Colts-Giants, 22.6 million (Original “Manning Bowl”)

*The NFL Kickoff Opener on Thursday, Sept. 9, 2010 between the Vikings and Saints generated an average viewership of 27.5 million people.

The 13.8/23 national rating for Tuesday’s game is 27 percent ahead of last year’s Week 16 SNF game (Cowboys-Redskins, 10.9/18).

DEFEATED ALL TUESDAY NIGHT COMPETITION: The Tuesday edition of “Sunday Night Football” defeated all Tuesday Night competition, the 16^th straight week that primetime NFL football on NBC out-rated all rival programming, on a night that included such original competition as CBS’s Kennedy Center Honors and encores of CBS’s NCIS, ABC’s Rudolph’s Shiny New Year, No Ordinary Family and Detroit 1-8-7, and Fox’s Glee.

SNF IS 16 FOR 16: With 23.7 million viewers, Tuesday’s edition of “Sunday Night Football” was the most-watched primetime show on Tuesday, the 16^th straight week this season that SNF defeated its competition (100 percent).  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).

Through the first 16 weeks of the NFL season, “Sunday Night Football” is averaging 22.0 million viewers, 2.4 million more than last year through this point of the season (19.6 million). 

SNF AVERAGE VIEWERSHIP THROUGH 16 WEEKS:

1. 2010, 21.9 million 

2. 2009, 19.6 million

3. 2006, 17.7 million

4. 2008, 16.7 million

5. 2007, 16.0 million

The 16-week average household rating of 13.1/21 is 11-percent higher than last year’s 11.8/19 and 27 percent ahead of 2008 (10.3/16) through the same point in the season.

TOP METERED MARKETS FOR VIKINGS-EAGLES:

1. Minneapolis, 38.4/57
2. Philadelphia, 36.3/53
3. New Orleans, 29.1/39
4. Norfolk, 22.9/35
5. Richmond, 21.8/35
6. Milwaukee, 19.9/31
7. Baltimore, 19.6/31
8. Las Vegas, 19.1/31
9. Atlanta, 18.2/27
10. Ft. Myers, 17.9/28

That is it.