Here’s Awful Announcing’s weekly roundup of NFL ratings, where you’ll see how your team is performing in your market, and how nationally televised games are performing across America. Enjoy.
CBS (1 p.m. ET Regional Window)
1. Pittsburgh (CLE vs. PIT) – 35.4/65
2. Boston (NE vs. MIA) – 31.2/65
3. Kansas City (TEN vs. KC) – 30.8/59
4. Cincinnati (CIN vs. BAL) – 30.2/56
5. Baltimore (CIN vs. BAL) – 29.8/57
6. Philadelphia (JAX vs. PHI) – 29.2/59
7. Cleveland (CLE vs. PIT) – 28.0/58
8. Providence (NE vs. MIA) – 26.1/49
9. Nashville (TEN vs. KC) – 24.3/42
10. Jacksonville (JAX vs. PHI) – 22.2/39
12. Miami (NE vs. MIA) – 17.9/36
16. New York (OAK vs. NYJ) – 12.4/27
19. Bay Area (OAK vs. NYJ) – 10.1/28
CBS was the only network to not decline during its window, which was flat compared to last year. Huzzah!
CBS only gets a 1 p.m. ET regional slot during Week 1 due to US Open tennis. The Steel City led all markets for CBS during their sole window of the first Sunday of this NFL season. The 35.4 rating is also up from the 33.7 the Steelers’ Week 1 game against the Titans drew in the market last year in the same timeslot and on the same network.
The Eye Network likely saw its biggest boost in, of all place, Jacksonville. The Jaguars looked good against the Eagles for a solid half, and the ratings also looked good. The 22.2 rating in the Jacksonville market is up big from a 17.5 for Chiefs-Jaguars in 2013.
Other markets that were up from Week 1 last year were Boston (31.2 up from 29.7 in 2013), Cincinnati (30.2 up from 29.0 in 2013), Cleveland (28.0 up from 27.3 in 2013), the Bay Area (10.1 from an 8.8 in 2013) and Nashville (a slight bump, 24.3 up from 24.2 in 2013). The Jets also saw gains in New York (a 12.4 on CBS up from an 11.7 on Fox in Week 1 last year)
The only market that dropped (not counting Baltimore and Philadelphia, who played Week 1 games in primetime last season) was Miami, who took a small dip to a 17.9 from an 18.1 in 2013. That number will likely head up a little bit given the team beat the Pats to lead off the year.
Fox (1 p.m. window)
Blackouts: Pittsburgh, Miami, Kansas City, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York
1. New Orleans (NO vs. ATL) – 44.2/69
2. Minneapolis-St. Paul (MIN vs. STL) – 30.4/68
3. Chicago (BUF vs. CHI) – 30.0/60
4. Buffalo (BUF vs. CHI) – 29.8/57
5. Atlanta (NO vs. ATL) – 24.1/47
6. Houston (WSH vs. HOU) – 23.5/48
7. Washington (WSH vs. HOU) – 21.6/44
8. Richmond (WSH vs. HOU) – 17.2/33
9. Norfolk (WSH vs. HOU) – 16.0/27
10. Milwaukee (BUF vs. CHI) – 15.9/35
11. St. Louis (MIN vs. STL) – 15.1/31
Nationally, Fox drew a 9.4 overnight for this window, down nearly eight percent from a 10.2 last season.
Buffalo is a small market, so perhaps the biggest surprise of Week 1 was Chicago having a slightly higher rating than Buffalo for the Bills overtime victory over the Bears. Chicago’s numbers were up slightly (from a 29.1 on CBS in 2013) while Buffalo’s dropped a bit (29.8 from a 33.6 on CBS in 2013).
New Orleans led all markets for FOX, however, the numbers were surprisingly down a pretty decent number from last year. The still huge 44.2 is a dip from a 48.1 for the same opponent (the Atlanta Falcons) to start 2013. The Saints aren’t any less hyped than they were last season, so this will be an interesting number to track throughout the 2014 season.
Fox also saw drops in Minneapolis (35.5 in 2013 to a 30.4) and Atlanta (24.4 in 2013 to a 24.1),
Fox (4:25 p.m. ET “Game of the Week” window)
1. Dallas (SF vs. DAL) – 29.5/52
2. Sacramento (SF vs. DAL) – 29.4/54
3. Charlotte (CAR vs. TB) – 28.3/49
4. Bay Area (SF vs. DAL) – 23.8/53
5. San Antonio (SF vs. DAL) – 22.7/41
6. Austin (SF vs. DAL) – 22.4/43
7. Richmond (SF vs. DAL) – 22.2/37
8. Greensboro (CAR vs. TB) – 21.8/36
9. Albuquerque (SF vs. DAL) – 21.0/40
10. Las Vegas (SF vs. DAL) – 20.5/35
12. Tampa Bay (CAR vs. TB) – 19.9/33
Fox drew a 17.4 overnight rating nationally for a window that was more than 90 percent seeing 49ers-Cowboys (with some seeing Panthers-Bucs). While that’s down two percent from a 17.8 for 49ers-Packers (no regional games) it was still Fox’s second-highest rated opening Sunday late window ever.
The only team that played in the “America’s Game of the Week” slot last year and this year was San Francisco. Apparently, not all of the Niners fans were at Jerry World on Sunday, as the 23.8 rating was up big from a 21.6 for San Francisco’s opener at Green Bay in the 4:25 p.m. ET time period last year. Dallas played in primetime last year, so it’s somewhat of an unfair comparison.
Here’s the weird news: despite a new coach and less of a pall surrounding the team than there was last year, Tampa Bay’s local numbers went down, despite the team playing in the 4:25 p.m. ET slot vs. a 1 p.m. ET game last year. Their opener against the Jets (which, to be fair, could contain some transplants) in 2013 drew a 20.5, vs. this year’s 19.9. Charlotte showed a big gainer from last year, going from a 22.4 to a 28.3.
NBC (Sunday Night Football)
1. Denver – 43.6/66
2. Indianapolis – 39.2/58
3. Las Vegas – 22.0/34
4. Albuquerque – 19.8/31
5. Nashville – 19.7/28
6. San Diego – 19.0/35
7. Knoxville – 18.8/29
8. Norfolk – 18.2/28
9. Richmond – 18.1/28
10. Phoenix – 17.9/30
NBC drew a 15.1 overnight for Colts-Broncos, which while still pretty huge, was down from the 16.6 for their Giants-Cowboys Sunday night opener last season. Colts-Broncos was down nine percent, the highest dip for any NFL window on the weekend.
Denver only dipped slightly from their Thursday night opener against the Ravens in 2013, which drew a 43.9/70 for NBC. Indianapolis was way up from a 1 p.m. ET CBS game in this week last year.
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