Media Life Magazine - For media buyers and Planners

Overnights

‘SNF’ spikes with Cowboys-Giants showdown

NBC averages 16.5 metered-market household rating for the NFC East game

By Toni Fitzgerald

December 12, 2016

Share |

The Dallas Cowboys always draw a crowd to “Sunday Night Football,” especially when they’re playing a division rival and looking to move a step closer to the NFC East crown.

The New York Giants had other ideas on Sunday, and that lifted “SNF” to its best rating in months.

The Giants’ 10-7 victory averaged a 16.5 metered-market household rating on NBC, according to Nielsen overnights, up 19 percent from last week despite airing opposite the season finale of AMC’s “The Walking Dead.”

It marked the highest-rated NFL primetime game in week 14 since 1997, when a Minnesota Vikings-Green Bay Packers contest on ABC’s “Monday Night Football” drew a 17.3.

It also marked the highest-rated non-kickoff weekend “SNF” game since week 17 in 2013.

Of course, every game with the Cowboys draws outsized ratings, and the good matchup (the Giants are 9-4 and handed Dallas just its second loss of the season) helped keep people tuned in.

Elsewhere on broadcast Monday night, ABC’s first-ever airing of “Frozen” gave the network’s Sunday night a boost.

The cartoon averaged a 1.7 adults 18-49 rating, the network’s second-best rating of the season in the 8-10 p.m. hour, behind only last month’s American Music Awards. Of course, it’s also worth noting that ABC has struggled in the 9 p.m. hour this season.

“The Simpsons” ranked as the night’s top non-sports program, posting a 2.4 at 8 p.m. thanks largely to a big lead-in from NFL runover at 7 p.m.

***

Top show of the night in 18-49s

NBC’s “Sunday Night Football,” 8:30-11 p.m., 7.7 rating.

Top show of the night in 18-34s

NBC’s “Sunday Night Football,” 8:30-11 p.m., 6.2 rating.

Top show of the night in total viewers

NBC’s “Sunday Night Football,” 8:30-11 p.m., 23.43 million.

(Note: “Sunday Night Football” on NBC aired live. Overnight ratings reflect only timeslot data, not actual program data, and do not account for time zone differences.)

Overnights Networks Ranked on 18-49s Dec. 12
Network	Adults 18-49		Adults 18-34		Households
Network	Rating	Share	Rating	Share	Rating	Share
NBC	6.1	19	4.9	19	10.9	18
Fox (7-10 p.m.)	2.5	8	1.9	7	4.2	7
ABC	1.3	4	0.9	3	3.1	5
CBS	0.8	3	0.5	2	4.9	8
Univision	0.6	2	0.5	2	1.0	2
Telemundo	0.3	1	0.3	1	0.6	1
All ratings based on live-plus-same-day DVR playback, including shows replayed before 3 a.m. Seven-day DVR data won’t be available for several weeks. Forty-nine percent of Nielsen households have DVRs Source: Nielsen

Overnights Shows Ranked on 18-49s Dec. 12
Network	Show	18-49 Rating

NBC	SNF Pregame	5.7
FOX	NFL Football overrun	5.5
FOX	The OT	3.8
NBC	Football Night in America	2.7
FOX	The Simpsons	2.4
ABC	Frozen	1.7
FOX	Family Guy	1.4
CBS	60 Minutes	1.3
FOX	Son of Zorn	1.3
ABC	America’s Funniest Home Videos	1.0
FOX	The Last Man on Earth	1.0
ABC	Making of Frozen: Return	0.9
CBS	Madam Secretary	0.7
CBS	The Dick Van Dyke Show	0.7
Univision	La Banda	0.7
CBS	Elementary	0.6
Univision	Aqui y Ahora	0.6
Univision	Sal y Pimienta	0.5
Telemundo	Don Francisco te Invita	0.4
Telemundo	Juan Diego: El Indio de Guadalupe	0.3
Telemundo	Hasta que te Conocí: En la Voz de Juan Gabriel	0.3
All ratings based on live-plus-same-day DVR playback, including shows replayed before 3 a.m. Seven-day DVR data won’t be available for several weeks. Forty-nine percent of Nielsen households have DVRs Source: Nielsen