Fox Scores For NFL Week 17

Fox will claim the “Most Watched Network for the NFL” title later today, but first, we have the overnight ratings for Week 17 and they come off quite well for Fox Sports.

NFL WEEK 17 OVERNIGHTS SCORE FOR FOX

Doubleheader +16%; National Game +14%

The 2009 NFL ON FOX regular-season concluded yesterday with an excellent 14.0/26 average household rating/share for a WEEK 17 DOUBLEHEADER, according to metered overnight figures released by Nielsen media research.  The strong showing is somewhat surprising for a twin-bill in which the two lead games were decided by scores of 44-7 (Giants at Vikings) and 24-0 (Eagles at Cowboys).  Yesterday’s 14.0/26 is +16% better than last year’s 12.1/24 for a Week 17 Doubleheader, coincidentally anchored both year’s the same games (Giants-Vikings early and Eagles-Cowboys late).  FOX’s NATIONAL GAME earned a 16.3/29, a +14% bump over last year’s 14.3/27 with 79% of the US seeing Eagles-Cowboys.  The REGIONAL GAME earned an 11.7/22, a stunning rating for a game in which 60% saw the Vikings rout the Giants opposite a meaningful Steelers-Dolphins game on CBS.  That 11.7/22 ties as the NFL on FOX’s second-best Regional rating of the year, behind only the Vikings-Steelers game in Week 7 (13.0/28).

FOX concludes the 2009 REGULAR SEASON with a 12.7/25 average for Sunday games in the metered markets, +6% better than both last year’s 12.0/24 on FOX and CBS’s 12.0/24 this year and tied NBC’s prime time package (12.7/20).

Once that release arrives, it’ll be posted forthwith.