The NFL Goes All-Wu Tang on Everybody Else

When a game gets over 28 million viewers, you have every right to crow. The NFL is doing just that today in this latest release regarding the TV ratings for Week 7. Just imagine you get not only American Idol numbers, but you’re the most viewed sporting event of the year just after the Super Bowl.

Rather impressive if you ask me.

FALCONS-COWBOYS ON FOX

MOST-WATCHED SPORTING EVENT SINCE SUPER BOWL

NFL Games 15 Most-Watched Sporting Events since Super Bowl

NFL Games Top Ratings in 25 Markets

Last week’s FOX doubleheader game (mostly Falcons-Cowboys) is the most-watched sporting event since Super Bowl XLIII with 28.4 million viewers.

Falcons-Cowboys topped the week’s most-watched non-NFL sporting event (Angels-Yankees series-clinching ALCS Game 6) by 12.9 million viewers.

NFL games account for the 15 most-watched sporting events since Super Bowl XLIII.

Following are the most watched sporting events since Super Bowl XLIII followed by a look at major events in other sports:

Rank (since Super Bowl)/ Event	Viewers
1. FOX Sunday National (mostly Falcons-Cowboys) 10/25	28.4 million
2. FOX Sunday National (mostly Redskins-Giants), 9/13	25.1 million
3. NBC Sunday Night Football (Giants-Cowboys), 9/20	24.8 million
4. CBS Sunday National (mostly Titans-Patriots), 10/18	23.9 million
5. CBS Sunday National (mostly Steelers-Bears), 9/20	23.9 million
6. FOX Sunday National (mostly Cowboys-Broncos), 10/4	22.0 million
7. ESPN Monday Night Football (Packers-Vikings), 10/5	21.8 million
8. NBC Sunday Night Football (Bears-Packers), 9/13	21.1 million
9. CBS Sunday National (mostly Patriots-Broncos), 10/11	20.9 million
10. NBC Thursday Night Kickoff Game (Titans-Steelers), 9/10	20.9 million
11. FOX Sunday Single (mostly Falcons-Patriots & 49ers-Vikings), 9/27	19.3 million
12. NBC Sunday Night Football (Chargers-Steelers), 10/4	18.4 million
13. NBC Sunday Night Football (Bears-Falcons), 10/18	18.2 million
14. CBS Sunday National (mostly Steelers-Bengals), 9/27	18.2 million
15. FOX Sunday Single (mostly Giants-Saints), 10/18	17.8 million
Rank (since Super Bowl) / Other Major Sporting Events:	Viewers
16. NCAA Basketball Championship (Mich. St.-UNC), 4/6	17.6 million
19. Kentucky Derby, 5/2	16.1 million
21. Daytona 500, 2/15	16.0 million
22. NBA Finals, Game 4 (Lakers-Magic), 6/11	16.0 million
25. MLB ALCS Game 6 (Angels-Yankees), 10/25	15.5 million
30. MLB All-Star Game, 7/14	14.6 million
32. Masters Final Round, 4/12	14.3 million

NFL games topped the local ratings in 25 NFL markets last week. Through seven weeks, NFL games have been the highest-rated show locally a record 89 percent of the time (season record: 88 percent in 2008).

Following are the NFL markets where football was the top-rated program for the week of Oct. 19-25:

Week of 10/19-25			HH	HH	RTG
Market	Game	Date	RTG	SHR	Rank
New Orleans	Saints at Dolphins	10/25/09	49.3	70	1
Pittsburgh	Vikings at Steelers	10/25/09	45.5	78	1
Denver *	Broncos at Chargers	10/19/09	41.5	58	1
Cincinnati	Bears at Bengals	10/25/09	39.0	61	1
Minneapolis	Vikings at Steelers	10/25/09	36.1	69	1
Milwaukee	Packers at Browns	10/25/09	34.0	65	1
Dallas	Falcons at Cowboys	10/25/09	33.7	62	1
San Diego*	Broncos at Chargers	10/25/09	33.4	50	1
Buffalo	Bills at Panthers	10/25/09	29.7	51	1
Kansas City	Chargers at Chiefs	10/25/09	28.1	51	1
Chicago	Bears at Bengals	10/25/09	25.9	49	1
Indianapolis	Colts at Rams	10/25/09	25.8	49	1
Phoenix	Cardinals at Giants	10/25/09	25.6	40	1
Boston	Patriots at Bucs	10/25/09	25.3	57	1
Atlanta	Falcons at Cowboys	10/25/09	24.8	45	1
Charlotte	Bills at Panthers	10/25/09	22.9	42	1
Cleveland	Packers at Browns	10/25/09	22.5	47	1
Miami	Saints at Dolphins	10/25/09	21.6	40	1
Washington, DC	Falcons at Cowboys	10/25/09	18.9	39	1
Houston	49ers at Texans	10/25/09	17.2	38	1
St. Louis	Colts at Rams	10/25/09	16.9	36	1
Tampa	Saints at Dolphins	10/25/09	16.9	30	1
Baltimore	Vikings at Steelers	10/25/09	14.4	31	1
San Fran-Oakland	49ers at Texans	10/25/09	13.7	40	1
Seattle	Falcons at Cowboys	10/25/09	12.5	28	1

* Local affiliate & ESPN combined

Source: NFL & Nielsen Media Research

I can just imagine what the numbers could be for Minnesota-Green Bay this Sunday at 4:15 p.m. on Fox. David Hill, Ed Goren and the gang in Los Angeles are already salivating.

UPDATE, 12:45 p.m.: Fox adds this press release to the fold.

FALCONS-COWBOYS POWERS NFL ON FOX

TO BIGGEST AUDIENCE IN 13 YEARS

Powered by a t
hree-game schedule featuring Falcons-Cowboys and a huge Vikings-Steelers lead-in, Sunday’s NFL on FOX national game (10/25) averaged a tremendous 16.8/32 (28.4 million viewers) and set many impressive benchmarks:

• FOX’s most-watched NFL Sunday telecast since 11/10/96 (Cowboys-49ers, 29.7 million)
• FOX’s highest-rated NFL regular season broadcast since 12/3/06 (Cowboys-Giants)
• The highest-rated and most-watched Sunday NFL telecast on any network since 12/9/07 (Patriots-Steelers on CBS)
• The highest-rated telecast on any network since the Academy Awards back in February (20.6/31, 36.3 mill)

Sunday’s national NFL game, along with THE OT post-game show (9.0/15 -15.1 mill), the ALCS pregame show (8.4/14 – 13.7 mill), and ALCS Game 6 (9.3/15 – 15.5 mill) powered FOX to a first place finish for the night (10.6/17 – 17.8 million viewers), and ranks as FOX’s highest-rated and most-watched Sunday since Super Bowl XLII (02/03/08). Among Adults 18-49, FOX’s 6.2 average rating was also the network’s best Sunday in 20 months.

Through three broadcasts, FOX’s national NFL game is averaging a 14.9/29 (25.2 million viewers), up +10% in rating and +15% in audience compared to the first three national games a year ago (13.6/27, 22.0 mill), +13% better than CBS’s national NFL game (13.2/26, 21.8 mill), +28% better than Sunday Night Football on NBC (11.6/19 , 19.1 mill), and currently ranks as the highest-rated and most-watched program in television across all key male and adult demos including M18-34 (11.6), M18-49 (13.3), M25-54 (15.3), and A18-49 (9.8).

Links coming soon.