Sunday Night Football Wins Primetime; Is Off Slightly From Week 12 2009

NBC’s Sunday Night Football came on top of the primetime ratings once again, garnering an 11.4 rating with an 18 share. It’s off from last year’s Pittsburgh-Baltimore game in Week 12 which received an 11.5/18 mark. The final viewing numbers for Sunday’s game ended at 19.1 million viewers which gave NBC a very good November. Let’s take a look at the final ratings and what NBC is saying about the average viewership in November.

“SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL” HAS BEST NOVEMBER FOR PRIMETIME NFL PACKAGE IN 14 YEARS

19.1 Million Watch Chargers Blowout of Colts

SNF Most-Watched Sunday Night Show Every Week So Far This Season (12 For 12)

No. 1 Show of the Week in All Key Adult and Male Demos

NEW YORK – November 30, 2010 – The four-game November average viewership this season makes “Sunday Night Football” the most-watched primetime NFL package for the month of November in 14 years. Despite the San Diego Chargers 36-14 blowout of the Indianapolis Colts, this week’s “Sunday Night Football” game was the most-watched program on Sunday night for the 12th straight week and the No. 1 primetime show of the week, according to official national data released today by The Nielsen Company.
A NOVEMBER TO REMEMBER: “Sunday Night Football” had a four-game November viewership of 20.9 million, making it the most-watched November ever for SNF and the best November for a primetime NFL package in 14 years (23.9 million on ABC in 1996).
  • NBC’s 12-week viewership of 21.3 million is nearly two million more than and nine percent above last year’s 19.5 million, and up 31 percent over 2008 (16.3 million) through the same point in the season.
TOPS COLTS-CHARGERS SNF GAME IN 2008 BY NEARLY 4 MILLION: Sunday’s game, in which the Chargers out-scored the Colts 20-0 in the second half, drew 19.1 million viewers, nearly four million more and 26-percent higher than Week 12 in 2008 (with the same matchup) when the Colts beat the Chargers, 23-30, (15.2 million) and just one percent off of last year’s Week 12 game that featured the Ravens beating the Steelers in an overtime thriller (19.2 million). Sunday night’s household rating of 11.4/18 is nearly two rating points and 20 percent higher than that Colts-Chargers game in 2008.
SNF AVERAGE VIEWERSHIP THROUGH 12 WEEKS:
1. 2010, 21.3 million
2. 2009, 19.5 million
3. 2006, 17.5 million
4. 2007, 16.6 million
5. 2008, 16.3 million
DEFEATED ALL SUNDAY NIGHT COMPETITION: Sunday’s Chargers-Colts broadcast defeated all Sunday night competition for the 12th time in 12 weeks, on an evening that included such original competition as CBS’s 60 Minutes, Amazing Race and the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie “November Christmas,” and Fox’s Simpsons and Cleveland Show.
SNF IS 12 FOR 12: With 19.1 million viewers, “Sunday Night Football” was the most-watched primetime show on Sunday night for the 12th straight week this season (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).
The 12-week average household rating of 12.8/21 is eight-percent higher than last year’s 11.8/19 and 27 percent ahead of 2008 (10.1/16) through the same point in the season.
NO. 1 SHOW OF THE WEEK: For the 12th straight week, “Sunday Night Football” was the No. 1 regularly-scheduled primetime broadcast of the week by a wide margin among Adults 18-49, the coveted advertiser demographic. SNF was also the No. 1 show this week among Adults 18-34, Adults 25-54, Men 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54.
  • For the week, “Sunday Night Football” had a 34-percent margin of victory over the No. 2 show in Adults 18-49 (7.1 for SNF vs. 5.3 for Desperate Housewives).
  • Through 12 weeks of the NFL season, “Sunday Night Football” stands as the most-watched primetime show on television, and the No. 1 regularly scheduled primetime show in all key adult and male demos.
    • SNF is also the No. 3 show since the beginning of the football season among Women 18-34 and 18-49.
TOP METERED MARKETS FOR CHARGERS-COLTS:
1. Indianapolis, 42.9/55
2. San Diego, 39.2/56
3. Las Vegas, 20.7/30
4. New Orleans, 20.4/26
5. Nashville, 17.4/24
6. Kansas City, 16.5/23
T7. Norfolk, 15.1/22
T7. Richmond, 15.1/21
9. Albuquerque, 15.0/22
10. Baltimore, 14.8/22

More later.

About Ken Fang

Ken has been covering the sports media in earnest at his own site, Fang's Bites since May 2007 and at Awful Announcing since March 2013. He provides a unique perspective having been an award-winning radio news reporter in Providence and having worked in local television. Fang celebrates the three Boston Red Sox World Championships in the 21st Century, but continues to be a long-suffering Cleveland Browns fan.

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