NFL airs it out with big ratings win
The NFL’s Week 4 was a blockbuster, with the league’s six telecasts collectively posting a 10 percent ratings increase over the same week a year ago. The gain increased ratings for the season to date by 2 percent, moving them into positive territory for the first time since the NFL eked out a 0.5 percent gain in Week 1.
Before football fans returned to their TV screens in droves on Sunday, a 3 percent decline in Week 2, followed by a 1 percent decline in Week 3, had season-to-date ratings trailing last year’s running total by 1 percent.
Week 4 reversed the negative trend, as five of the NFL’s six telecasts attracted larger audiences than they did a year ago.
“Thursday Night Football” kicked off the week with the Los Angeles Rams beating the Minnesota Vikings in what many considered the best-played game of the season so far.
But its 8.9 rating was the same as the comparable matchup between the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers last season.
The week’s eye-popping gains came on Sunday with CBS’ doubleheader, which scored a ratings increase of 33 percent. The first game featured Eli Manning’s (left) New York Giants losing to the New Orleans Saints, 33-18. The New England Patriots routed the Miami Dolphins, 38-7, in the second game.
“Sunday Night Football’s” 10.4 rating for the Baltimore Ravens’ 26-14 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers represented a year-over-year gain of 9 percent and marked the time slot’s third ratings increase in as many weeks.
“Monday Night Football’s” Week 4 installment, featuring the Kansas City Chiefs in a 27-23 come-from-behind victory over the Denver Broncos, delivered a 9.1 rating, according to overnight data from Nielsen.
That translated into an 8 percent increase, representing the ESPN telecast’s first ratings gain this season.
The week’s only loser was Fox’s single game on Sunday, mostly featuring the Dallas Cowboys edging the Detroit Lions 26-24.
Although the telecast’s 10.3 rating was 10 percent lower than the 11.5 recorded for last season’s comparable contest, it nonetheless ranked as the highest for a single game offering this year.
The Sunday night’s ratings gains may have benefited from the massacre that took place in Las Vegas a year ago on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017, and siphoned off an unknown number of West Coast viewers from the NFL game.