Fox (Regional Window)

Blackouts: New York, Buffalo, Boston, Cincinnati, Jacksonville, Cleveland

1. New Orleans (MIN vs. NO) – 44.9/67
2. Milwaukee (GB vs. DET) – 42.2/70
3. Minneapolis-St. Paul (MIN vs. NO) – 31.7/66
4. Philadelphia (WSH vs. PHI) – 31.3/59
5. Phoenix (SF vs. ARZ) – 25.2/48
6. Detroit (GB vs. DET) – 24.6/48
7. Dallas (DAL vs. STL) – 23.8/49
8. Washington (WSH vs. PHI) – 23.2/49
9. Richmond (WSH vs. PHI) – 20.6/37
10. Bay Area (SF vs. ARZ) – 19.6/49
11. St. Louis (DAL vs. STL) – 17.7/39

Fox saw an 8.3 percent decline for their early window from last year. This might be due to the network losing the New York market despite having a pivotal NFC East matchup in the early window. Last year, Giants-Panthers led this window.

Locally, New Orleans was down slightly but still led all NFL markets in local ratings on Sunday for the third straight week. Milwaukee was up for a rivalry game despite being in the late window last week. Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Washington and St. Louis all posted season highs. San Francisco and Dallas both posted season lows.

CBS (1 p.m. ET Window)

Blackouts: New Orleans, Detroit, Philadelphia, St. Louis

1. Buffalo (SD vs. BUF) – 37.8/66
2. Boston (OAK vs. NE) – 33.0/66
3. Indianapolis (IND vs. JAX) – 33.0/57
4. Cincinnati (TEN vs. CIN) – 30.4/59
5. Cleveland (BAL vs. CLE) – 29.7/61
6. San Diego (SD vs. BUF) – 29.1/61
7. Baltimore (BAL vs. CLE) – 28.2/55
8. Providence (OAK vs. NE) – 25.1/46
9. Houston (HOU vs. NYG) – 23.7/48
10. Dayton (TEN vs. CIN) – 22.8/42
11. Nashville (TEN vs. CIN) – 22.2/38
14. Jacksonville (IND vs. JAX) – 16.1/32
15. New York (HOU vs. NYG) – 13.3/29
16. Bay Area (OAK vs. NE) – 13.1/37

This window saw the biggest gains of any window from 2013. CBS drew an 11.1 overnight at 1 p.m. ET, up 44 percent from last year. Texans-Giants was seen in much of the country, while the Patriots also carried much of the nation.

Locally, Buffalo’s 2-0 start led to a season high, making it unfortunate that the audience saw the team’s first loss. Boston, Cleveland and Oakland also drew their highest in-market ratings of the season. Baltimore, Indianapolis and Jacksonville all drew their lowest numbers.

CBS (4:25 p.m. ET Window)

Blackout: Phoenix

1. Seattle (DEN vs. SEA) – 41.1/79
2. Denver (DEN vs. SEA) – 41.0/73
3. Kansas City (KC vs. MIA) – 35.4/60
4. Indianapolis (DEN vs. SEA) – 25.8/42
5. Dayton (DEN vs. SEA) – 21.9/38
6. San Diego (DEN vs. SEA) – 20.9/44
7. Las Vegas (DEN vs. SEA) – 20.5/39
8. Cincinnati (DEN vs. SEA) – 20.3/38
9. Buffalo (DEN vs. SEA) – 20.1/33
10. Albuquerque (DEN vs. SEA) – 20.0/38
14. Miami (KC vs. MIA) – 17.8/34

The rematch of the Super Bowl, which hit overtime, was a jackpot for the troubled NFL. Broncos-Seahawks drew a 16.9 overnight, up 15 percent from Colts-49ers in the same window last season. Making it somewhat more impressive is that the regional game in last year’s window (Bills-Jets) featured the New York market.

Locally, Denver and Seattle still couldn’t quite hit the highest highs of their season opening primetime games. Kansas City — featured in the secondary game in this window against the Dolphins — was still high, but down slightly from last week’s showdown with the Broncos. Miami was up from last week, but still beneath Week 1’s rating.

NBC (Sunday Night Football)

1. Pittsburgh – 38.9/57
2. Charlotte – 31.1/50
3. Greensboro – 22.7/34
4. Greenville – 20.0/30
5. Raleigh-Durham – 17.2/28
6. Baltimore – 15.8/25
7. Norfolk – 15.6/24
8. Indianapolis – 15.4/25
9. Richmond – 15.3/23
10. Las Vegas – 15.2/25

Despite a week matchup that was never really close in the second half, Steelers-Panthers still drew a 12.3 overnight, down just eight percent from last year’s Bears-Steelers. Losing the Chicago market makes eight percent sound just about right.

The game was a season high rating for Pittsburgh, even higher than last week’s Thursday night game in Baltimore, which had all of the scrutiny behind it. Charlotte also easily cruised to a season high.

About Steve Lepore

Steve Lepore is a writer for Bloguin and a correspondent for SiriusXM NHL Network Radio.

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