Sunday Night Football had a much stronger performance opposite the World Series this year, but still hit a season-low in the overnights.
The Week 8 Packers/Saints Sunday Night Football game drew an 11.4 overnight rating on NBC, up 15% from Packers/Vikings last year (9.9) and even with Saints/Broncos in 2012. The 11.4 is the lowest overnight of the season on NBC, falling below the previous mark of 11.6 for Eagles/Giants in Week 6.
Despite the season-low, Sunday’s game had the biggest increase of the season on NBC. The previous high was a 10% rise for Bengals/Patriots in Week 5.
NBC was no doubt helped by weaker numbers for the World Series, which sank to an 8.2 overnight without the benefit of an NFL lead-in. Last year’s Sunday night World Series game had a 10.5. The gap between SNF and World Series — 39% — was the largest in five head-to-head meetings.
Locally, the Saints’ blowout win drew a 50.2 rating in New Orleans and a 45.0 in Milwaukee. Minneapolis (17.4), Memphis (15.9) and Denver (15.8) rounded out the top five, reports Sports Media Watch.