23.4 million people. A rating of 14.3 and a 23 share. All numbers up from last year’s Week 2 game of Manning Bowl II. Plus, Philadelphia and Atlanta drew monster numbers for the Eagles-Falcons game and NBC executives must be doing handstands and backflips over the ratings.
About to head out to a jobsite so I can’t really go in-depth here, but you can read the press release and take a look at the way NBC Sports is sticking its proverbial chest out in pride.
23.4 MILLION WATCH EAGLES-FALCONS ON SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL ON NBC
Viewership and National Rating Both Up From Last Year’s Week 2 “Manning Bowl II” Sunday Night Football is No. 1 Primetime Program of the Week
NEW YORK – Sept. 20, 2011 – The Eagles-Falcons Sunday Night Football game on NBC was seen by an average of 23.4 million people and registered a national rating of 14.3 and a 23 share, according to official national ratings data released today by The Nielsen Company. The game was the No. 1 primetime program of the week for the second straight week and led NBC to another Sunday night win while going head-to-head against the Emmy Awards on Fox.
The viewership and household rating for Sunday night’s game (8:31-11:47 p.m. ET), in which Matt Ryan and the Falcons defeated Michael Vick and the Eagles, 35-31, is up one and four percent, respectively, from last year’s Sunday Night Football Week 2 contest, which featured the Manning brothers, Eli and Peyton, competing against each other (Giants-Colts, 23.1 million, 13.8/23).
The national rating peaked from 9:30-10 p.m. ET at a 15.7/24.
SNF NO. 1 SHOW OF THE WEEK: For the second straight week Sunday Night Football was the No. 1 primetime broadcast of the week among viewers, households and all the key demos.
SNF IS NO. 1 SHOW OF THE NIGHT, TOPS EMMYS: For the fourth straight time that Sunday Night Football went head-to-head with the Emmy Awards (NBC aired the Emmys last year), SNF delivered a convincing victory, nearly doubling the viewership of the awards program (23.4 million vs. 12.4 million).
- Sunday Night Football powered NBC to a Sunday night primetime win, averaging 20.2 million viewers from 7:30-11 p.m., 96 percent ahead of second place Fox (10.3 million from 7-11 p.m.).
SNF 3 FOR 3: With 23.4 million viewers for Eagles-Falcons, Sunday Night Football starts the season three-for-three versus its competition. This continues a trend for SNF dominating Sunday nights. Last season, “Sunday Night Football” was the No. 1 show all 18 nights (100 percent) vs. its competition (16 Sundays, one Tuesday and one Thursday).
- 2011 – 3 of 3 (Two Sundays, one Thursday – 100 percent)
- 2010 – 18 of 18 (16 Sundays, one Tuesday and one Thursday – 100 percent)
- 2009 – 15 of 16 Sundays (94 percent)
- 2008 – 13 of 16 Sundays (81 percent)
- 2007 – 11 of 16 Sundays (69 percent)
- 2006 – nine of 16 Sundays (56 percent)
SNF STARTS STRONG: NBC’s three-game average viewership of 25.4 million is up over last year’s 25.3 million for NBC’s opening two weeks of the NFL season, the best start in the six-year history of Sunday Night Football, and the best start to a season for a primetime package in 17 years (25.5 million for ABC in 1994).
- The three-game average household rating of 15.2/25 is up one percent from last year (15.1/25) and the best through the first two weeks of the NFL season for a primetime package in 12 years (15.7/26 in 1999 on ABC).
- The critically acclaimed Football Night in America is averaging 10.7 million viewers and a household rating of 6.6/11 (7:30-8:15 p.m. ET) through the first two weeks, up 12 percent and 14 percent, respectively, from last year’s first two weeks.
TOP 10 METERED MARKETS FOR EAGLES-FALCONS:
- Atlanta, 33.6/50
- Philadelphia, 33.5/49
- New Orleans, 27.9/37
- Richmond, 27.4/34
- Norfolk, 25.7/37
- Washington, D.C., 20.3/34
- Las Vegas, 19.6/31
- Memphis, 18.9/27
- Dallas, 18.2/29
- Charlotte, 18.1/28
That’s all. Back later.
