If this is any indication of what’s coming, then NBC could be off to another record-setting season of Sunday Night Football. According to the Nielsen Ratings service, NBC received a record high 16.5 rating for last Sunday’s Pittsburgh Steelers-Denver Broncos season premiere of SNF. The share was 26. That is up 8% from last year’s SNF opener featuring the Dallas Cowboys and New York Jets at 15.3/25.
Viewership for Sunday’s game averaged 27.57 million and that’s the 2nd most watched game in NBC primetime after last season’s finale between Dallas and the New York Giants at 27.62 million.
NBC also cleaned up in the 18-49 category setting another record rating there.
Pittsburgh led all local markets with a staggering 51.5/70 number. Naturally, Denver was 2nd with a 44.2/67, the highest in that market in 9 years. And there was high interest in Indianapolis, Peyton Manning’s old stomping grounds.
Here’s the NBC Sports announcement.
Steelers-Broncos Game is NBC’s Highest-Rated “Sunday Night Football” Game Ever
16.5 National Rating Ties 2010 NFL Kickoff as NBC’s Highest-Rated Regular-Season Game Ever
27.57 Million Watch Steelers-Broncos SNF Game, NBC’s 2nd Most-Watched Regular-Season Primetime Game Ever
Steelers-Broncos Earns Best Ever Adult 18-49 Rating for a Regular-Season Primetime Game on NBC; and Best on ANY Network in 15 Years
44.2 Local Denver Rating is Best for Market for Regular-Season NFL Game in 9 Years; Pittsburgh Leads All Metered Markets with 51.5/70, Indianapolis 3rd with 28.9/42NEW YORK – September 11, 2012 – Sunday’s Steelers-Broncos game on NBC was the highest-rated Sunday Night Football game ever and tied the 2010 NFL Kickoff opener as the highest-rated regular-season NFL game ever on NBC. Additionally, the game earned NBC’s highest-ever regular-season primetime rating in the advertiser-coveted Adult 18-49 demographic, according to official national data released today by The Nielsen Company.
Sunday night’s game on NBC, in which the Broncos defeated the Steelers, 31-19, in Peyton Manning’s first game as quarterback of the Broncos, drew a 16.5 national household rating and a 26 share, the highest-rated Sunday Night Football game ever, topping the 15.7/25 for last year’s Cowboys-Giants Week 17 finale by five percent. Additionally, the 16.5/26 rating ties the 2010 NFL Kickoff opener (Vikings-Saints) as the highest-rated NFL primetime regular-season game ever on NBC.
The Steelers-Broncos game was seen by 27.57 million viewers, less than one percent below the most-watched NFL regular-season primetime game ever on NBC (27.62 million for Cowboys-Giants Week 17 game last year that determined the NFC East title).
Other Ratings Notes:
- Household rating (16.5/26) and viewership (27.57) are up 8% and 7%, respectively, over last year’s first SNF game (Cowboys-Jets, 15.3/25 and 25.8 million).
- Adult 18-49 rating of 11.0 is highest for any regular-season primetime NFL game ever on NBC, and is best in the advertiser-coveted demographic for an NFL regular-season primetime game on ANY network in 15 years (Broncos-49ers, 11.6, 12/15/97, on ABC).
- Second most-watched NFL regular-season primetime game on ANY network in 16 years (Packers-Cowboys, 31.5 million, 11/18/96, on ABC).
- Ties 2010 NFL Kickoff opener for highest-rated NFL regular-season primetime game on ANY network in 14 years (Vikings-Packers, 16.8/27, 10/5/98, on ABC).
- 44.2/67 rating in Denver is best for that market for any regular-season NFL game since 9/22/03 (44.5/61 for Oakland-Denver on ABC).
HIGHEST RATED NFL REGULAR-SEASON PRIMETIME GAMES ON NBC
T1. 16.5/26 Steelers-Broncos, 9/9/12 (Sunday Night’s Game) T1. 16.5/28 Vikings-Saints, 9/9/10 (2010 Thursday Night Opener)* 3. 16.0/26 Saints-Packers, 9/8/11 (2011 Thursday Night Opener)* 4. 15.7/25 Cowboys-Giants, 1/1/12 (2011 SNF Week 17) 5. 15.4/25 Vikings-Packers, 10/24/10, (Favre Return to Lambeau II) 6. 15.3/25 Cowboys-Jets, 9/11/11 (2011 SNF Week 1) 7. 15.2/24 Eagles-Cowboys, 12/12/10 (2010 SNF Week 14) 8. 15.1/25 Giants-Cowboys, 9/20/09 (Dallas Cowboys Stadium Debut) 9. 15.0/25 Cowboys-Redskins, 9/12/10 (2010 SNF: Week 1) 10. 14.9/23 Giants-Cowboys, 12/11/11 (2011 SNF Week 14) *Thursday Night Games
MOST WATCHED NFL REGULAR-SEASON PRIMETIME GAMES ON NBC
1. 27.62 million Cowboys-Giants, 1/1/12 (2011 SNF Week 17) 2. 27.57 million Steelers-Broncos, 9/9/12 (Sunday Night’s Game) 3. 27.5 million Vikings-Saints, 9/9/10 (2010 Thursday Night Opener)* 4. 27.1 million Saints-Packers, 9/8/11 (2011 Thursday Night Opener)* 5. 25.8 million Cowboys-Jets, 9/11/11 (2011 SNF Week 1) 6. 25.73 million Eagles-Cowboys, 12/12/10 (2010 SNF Week 14) 7. 25.68 million Vikings-Packers, 10/24/10, (Favre Return to Lambeau II) 8. 25.3 million Cowboys-Redskins, 9/12/10 (2010 SNF: Week 1) 9. 24.8 million Giants-Cowboys, 9/20/09 (Dallas Cowboys Stadium Debut) 10. 24.5 million Giants-Cowboys, 12/11/11 (2011 SNF Week 14) * Thursday Night Games
SNF DOMINATED PRIMETIME: Wednesday’s Cowboys-Giants game (23.9 million) and Sunday Night’s Broncos-Steelers game (27.6 million) rank as the No. 1 and No. 2 primetime programs of the week among viewers, households and other key ratings categories.
- NBC won Sunday night by all key ratings measures. Among viewers NBC’s margin of victory was 79 percent, or 9.9 million persons in total viewers over the second place network (22.4 million vs. 12.5 million for Fox, which was boosted by an NFL overrun). In adults 18-49, NBC’s margin of victory over the No. 2 network was 71 percent (8.9 vs. 5.2 for Fox).
- This was the highest rated Sunday primetime performance (excluding the Olympics) for any network in both viewers and Adults 18-49 since ABC’s coverage of the Academy Awards on February 26.
TOP METERED MARKETS FOR STEELERS-BRONCOS:
1. Pittsburgh 51.5/70 2. Denver 44.2/67 3. Indianapolis 28.9/42 4. Las Vegas 24.1/38 5. Albuquerque 23.1/35 6. New Orleans 23.0/31 T7. Nashville 22.5/32 T7. San Diego 22.5/37 9. Richmond 22.4/32 10. Baltimore 22.2/33
That’s all.
