NFL Ratings, Week 8: Decent numbers for Wembley kickoff

Sunday Morning Football (Fox)

1. Detroit – 29.0/56
2. Atlanta – 15.1/35
3. Milwaukee – 9.7/26
4. Kansas City – 9.4/23
5. Providence – 8.0/20
6. New Orleans – 7.0/15
7. Tampa Bay – 6.9/18
8. Las Vegas – 6.8/18
t9. Richmond – 6.7/16
t9. Cleveland – 6.7/16

The NFL’s first-ever excursion into the AM hours on the east coast proved fitfully successful. It drew a 6.6 rating, which I imagine is higher than… most morning programs. It powered Fox NFL Sunday to a massive 7.6 rating, which may be its highest ever number.

Interestingly enough, Detroit drew its second-highest local rating of the season for the morning game. Atlanta, on the other hand, drew its lowest rating of the season.

Regional Window (Fox)

1. Boston (CHI vs. NE) – 34.3/69
2. Kansas City (STL vs. KC) – 34.3/63
3. Philadelphia (PHI vs. ARZ) – 31.2/51
4. Providence (CHI vs. NE) – 31.0/57
5. Minneapolis-St. Paul (MIN vs. TB) – 29.4/62
6. Phoenix (PHI vs. ARZ) – 28.3/54
7. Chicago (CHI vs. NE) – 22.6/50
8. Houston (HOU vs. TEN) – 22.4/46
9. Nashville (HOU vs. TEN) – 18.0/34
10. St. Louis (STL vs. KC) – 16.4/34
11. Tampa Bay (MIN vs. TB) – 16.1/32

Fox, buoyed by the early-early game, drew a 12.3 rating for its regional window, up 21 percent from CBS’ window the same week last year.

Locally, markets have pretty much settled to where the good teams are going to rise and the bad teams are going to fall to certain levels. Houston, Tennessee, Chicago and Minnesota all hit season lows. Arizona hit a season high, which it is likely to be toppled next week when the Cowboys are the opponent.

1 p.m. ET Window (CBS)

Blackouts: Boston, Kansas City, Tampa Bay, Nashville

1. Buffalo (BUF vs. NYJ) – 40.7/66
2. Seattle (SEA vs. CAR) – 39.0/72
3. Baltimore (CIN vs. BAL) – 34.4/63
4. Cincinnati (CIN vs. BAL) – 32.5/62
5. Charlotte (SEA vs. CAR) – 22.6/46
6. Jacksonville (JAX vs. MIA) – 21.0/40
7. Greensboro (SEA vs. CAR) – 19.8/36
8. Raleigh (SEA vs. CAR) – 17.7/37
9. Columbus (BAL vs. CIN) – 16.3/34
10. New Orleans (SEA vs. CAR) – 15.1/26
11. Miami (JAX vs. MIA) – 14.2/32
20. New York (BUF vs. NYJ) – 12.2/27

CBS’ early window drew a 10.6 rating, down just under three percent from last year’s Fox window.

Locally, Buffalo drew its highest ratings for a Bills game in seven years on Sunday. Baltimore drew its highest ratings since Week 2 when they were facing the Steelers on Thursday night amidst the height of the Ray Rice scandal. Miami hit a season low.

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

Blackout: Phoenix

1. Pittsburgh (IND vs. PIT) – 41.3/66
2. Indianapolis (IND vs. PIT) – 39.1/60
3. Cleveland (OAK vs. CLE) – 36.3/61
4. Cincinnati (IND vs. PIT) – 21.0/37
5. Dayton (OAK vs. CLE) – 19.1/35
6. Columbus (OAK vs. CLE) – 19.1/34
7. Buffalo (IND vs. PIT) – 18.5/30
8. Las Vegas (IND vs. PIT) – 18.2/33
9. Baltimore (IND vs. PIT) – 18.1/32
10. New Orleans (IND vs. PIT) – 17.6/28
26. Bay Area (OAK vs. CLE) – 12.4/30

Despite a high-octane Colts-Steelers game, CBS drew just a 13.0 rating, down 25 percent from the comparable Washington-Denver game on Fox last season.

It certainly wasn’t the fault of Pittsburgh and Cleveland, which both hit local highs for the season, while Indianapolis just missed.

Sunday Night Football (NBC)

1. New Orleans – 50.2/65
2. Milwaukee – 45.0/61
3. Minneapolis-St. Paul – 17.4/26
4. Memphis – 15.9/21
t5. Denver – 15.8/25
t5. Las Vegas – 15.8/25
7. Richmond – 14.9/22
8. Dallas – 14.4/21
9. Albuquerque – 13.8/20
10. Seattle – 13.7/23

Packers-Saints hit a season low 11.4 overnight rating for NBC, but still 39 percent higher than the World Series and up 10 percent higher than last season’s Packers-Vikings matchup.

New Orleans drew the highest local rating for any NFL market this season, while Green Bay hit a season high as well.