Heated Rivalry Lifts Sunday Night Football, NBC to Weekly Ratings Win

NBC has won the week of Oct. 6-12 in the coveted 18-49 demographic as Sunday Night Football, featuring an NFC East matchup between the Eagles and Giants, ranked as the No. 1 show among primetime Big 4 shows. (Photo: AP Images)

NBC has finished No. 1 in the key adult 18-49 demographic for primetime week of Oct. 6-12, with the network’s Sunday Night Football ranking No. 1 among primetime shows on the Big 4 networks in adults 18-49, total viewers, adults 18-34, adults 25-54 and other key measures. According to "live plus same day" viewing figures from Nielsen Media Research, NBC averaged a 2.3 rating, 7 share in adults 18-49 and 8.1 million viewers overall for the week.

NBC also ranked No. 1 or tied for No. 1 for the Oct. 6-12 week among ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox in adults, men and women 18-34; men and women 18-49 and adults and women 25-54.

Note that No. 2 CBS was boosted this week by Thursday NFL football, which itself was boosted by NFL Network viewership (1.2 rating in 18-49, 2.719 million viewers overall Thursday night) that was added to CBS’s averages.

NBC’s Sunday Night Football was the week’s No. 1 primetime telecast on the Big 4 networks in adults 18-49, as well as total viewers, adults 18-34, adults 25-54, all key adult-male demos, teens 12-17 and kids 2-11. Rankings exclude sports pre- and post-game shows.

Joining SNF among the week’s top 25 programs in adults 18-49 on the Big 4 are Monday’s The Voice (No. 4), Monday’s The Blacklist (tied for No. 12), Tuesday’s Voice encore (tied for No. 15) and Tuesday’s Chicago Fire (No. 23).

Primetime averages for the week of Oct. 6-12 in adults 18-49 are: NBC, 2.3/7; CBS, 2.1/7; Fox, 1.8/6; ABC, 1.8/6; and CW, 0.8/3. In overall total viewers, the weekly averages were: CBS, 10.3 million; NBC, 8.1 million; ABC, 7.1 million; Fox, 5.4 million; and CW, 2.0 million.

Season-to-date averages are currently unavailable.

More NBC highlights for the week of Oct. 6-12 are available here.