GREEN BAY, WI – SEPTEMBER 20: K.J. Wright #50 of the Seattle Seahawks and Richard Rodgers #82 of the Green Bay Packers fight in during the second half of their game at Lambeau Field on September 20, 2015 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
2015By Ken Fang on

Sunday Night Football is the ratings engine that keeps on going. It’s the number one primetime series and is the great promotional machine for NBC. And asides from The Walking Dead which takes younger viewers away from SNF, primetime football for the most part burns a General William Sherman-like path of destruction on broadcast and cable competition.

That includes the Primetime Emmy Awards on Fox this past Sunday which fell to its lowest viewership ever. The numbers show that the viewership for the Emmys averaged 11.9 million and received a 7.2 rating and a 12 share. Last year’s Emmys on NBC received a viewership of 15.6 million, but it aired on a Monday night.

Compare that to SNF which received a whopping 26.4 million viewers for Seattle-Green Bay and an average rating/share of 15.1/26. And both numbers are up from last year’s Chicago-San Francisco game which had 22.3 million viewers and a 13.0/22.

So our takeaway is that not even some of the biggest stars on television receiving awards could not beat Sunday Night Football. And perhaps the Emmys should make a permanent move to Monday after seeing this pummeling by Sunday Night Football.

NBC’s win was dominant across the board including in the coveted 18-49 demographic where the Peacock defeated its broadcast brethren by a margin of 69%. And NBC notes that this is the most-watched NFL Week 2 game in primetime dating back to 1991 when Monday Night Football was on ABC.

Locally, the top ten markets for Seattle-Green Bay shaped up this way:

1. Milwaukee 52.5/73
2. Seattle 50.6/75
3. Portland 25.8/46
4. Las Vegas 24.9/40
5. Denver 22.9/40
6. New Orleans 21.8/31
7. Minneapolis 21.7/35
8. Albuquerque 21.1/35
9. Richmond 21.0/33
10. Phoenix 19.6/32

Through its first three games, NBC is averaging 26.8 million viewers and that’s the best start for the broadcast networks’ NFL primetime [NBC Sports]package since 1993 when Monday Night Football averaged 28.3 million.

When you combine CBS’ viewership for the Thursday Night Football opener, the NFL is off to a very good start in primetime. Despite all of the negative stories about the league, the American viewing public shows that all that matters is the game and as long as the networks provide one, it’ll watch.

[NBC Sports]

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 four Boston Red Sox World Championships in the 21st Century, but continues to be a long-suffering Cleveland Browns fan.

View all posts by Ken Fang

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