Here’s a press release from the National Football League stating three of its games from Week 3 were the three most watched programs of the week between September 15 – 21. They say things come in threes, they definitely did for the NFL in Week 3.
NFL GAMES TOP RATINGS IN ALL MARKETS
NFL GAMES TOP 3 SHOWS ON TV LAST WEEK
NFL games topped the local ratings in 29 of 29 NFL markets last week (Houston was not measured due to Hurricane Ike).
Nationally, NFL games accounted for the three most-watched shows among all programs last week (Sept. 15-21) – all of which exceeded the viewership of the Emmy Awards by more than 50 percent.
The Sunday night Dallas-Green Bay game on NBC was the most-watched show of the week with 22.2 million viewers. The CBS doubleheader game on Sunday (mostly Steelers-Eagles) ranked second with 19.2 million viewers and was followed by last Monday night’s (Sept. 15) Eagles-Cowboys game on ESPN which drew an all-time cable record 18.6 million viewers. The Emmy Awards drew 12.3 million viewers on Sunday night.
Following are the NFL markets where football was the top-rated program for the week of September 15-21:
|
Week of 9/15-9/21 |
|
|
HH |
HH |
RTG |
|
Market |
Game |
Date |
RTG |
SHR |
Rank |
|
Philadelphia* |
Eagles @ Cowboys |
9/15/08 |
42.3 |
60 |
1 |
|
Pittsburgh |
Steelers @ Eagles |
9/21/08 |
41.1 |
67 |
1 |
|
Milwaukee |
Cowboys @ Packers |
9/21/08 |
40.0 |
56 |
1 |
|
New Orleans |
Saints @ Broncos |
9/21/08 |
39.3 |
57 |
1 |
|
Dallas |
Cowboys @ Packers |
9/21/08 |
38.6 |
57 |
1 |
|
Buffalo |
Raiders @ Bills |
9/21/08 |
36.8 |
63 |
1 |
|
Indianapolis |
Jaguars @ Colts |
9/21/08 |
33.6 |
54 |
1 |
|
Denver |
Saints @ Broncos |
9/21/08 |
31.3 |
54 |
1 |
|
Jacksonville |
Jaguars @ Colts |
9/21/08 |
31.2 |
48 |
1 |
|
Nashville |
Texans @ Titans |
9/21/08 |
28.1 |
49 |
1 |
|
Cincinnati |
Bengals @ Giants |
9/21/08 |
26.4 |
53 |
1 |
|
Cleveland |
Browns @ Ravens |
9/21/08 |
25.5 |
46 |
1 |
|
Baltimore |
Browns @ Ravens |
9/21/08 |
24.8 |
43 |
1 |
|
Minneapolis |
Panthers @ Vikings |
9/21/08 |
24.7 |
57 |
1 |
|
Kansas City |
Chiefs @ Falcons |
9/21/08 |
23.4 |
45 |
1 |
|
Charlotte |
Panthers @ Vikings |
9/21/08 |
23.1 |
41 |
1 |
|
Washington, DC |
Cardinals @ Redskins |
9/21/08 |
22.6 |
49 |
1 |
|
Chicago |
Buccaneers @ Bears |
9/21/08 |
22.1 |
47 |
1 |
|
Tampa Bay |
Buccaneers @ Bears |
9/21/08 |
22.0 |
40 |
1 |
|
Seattle |
Rams @ Seahawks |
9/21/08 |
21.6 |
46 |
1 |
|
Miami |
Dolphins @ Patriots |
9/21/08 |
20.8 |
40 |
1 |
|
Boston |
Dolphins @ Patriots |
9/21/08 |
20.5 |
48 |
1 |
|
Atlanta |
Chiefs @ Falcons + Bonus Coverage |
9/21/08 |
16.9 |
34 |
1 |
|
San Diego |
Bengals @ Giants + Bonus Coverage |
9/21/08 |
16.1 |
36 |
1 |
|
Detroit |
Lions @ 49ers |
9/21/08 |
15.4 |
29 |
1 |
|
St. Louis |
Cowboys @ Packers |
9/21/08 |
13.6 |
20 |
1 |
|
Phoenix |
Cowboys @ Packers |
9/21/08 |
13.3 |
23 |
1 |
|
San Fran-Oakland |
Lions @ 49ers |
9/21/08 |
13.3 |
35 |
1 |
|
New York |
Bengals @ Giants |
9/21/08 |
12.2 |
30 |
1 |
* Local affiliate & ESPN combined
Source: NFL & Nielsen Media Research
The networks and advertisers know that the NFL attracts high numbers of male viewers unlike any other program and it’s one of the reasons why the rights fees are in the billions of dollars with no sign of going down.
