Steelers-Broncos Game is NBC’s Highest-Rated “Sunday Night Football” Game Ever
NBC Sports Group
Sunday night’s game on NBC, in which the Broncos defeated the Steelers, 31-19, in Peyton Manning’s first game as quarterback of the Broncos, drew a 16.5 national household rating and a 26 share, the highest-rated Sunday Night Football game ever, topping the 15.7/25 for last year’s Cowboys-Giants Week 17 finale by five percent. Additionally, the 16.5/26 rating ties the 2010 NFL Kickoff opener (Vikings-Saints) as the highest-rated NFL primetime regular-season game ever on NBC.
The Steelers-Broncos game was seen by 27.57 million viewers, less than one percent below the most-watched NFL regular-season primetime game ever on NBC (27.62 million for Cowboys-Giants Week 17 game last year that determined the NFC East title).
Other Ratings Notes:
- Household rating (16.5/26) and viewership (27.57) are up 8% and 7%, respectively, over last year’s first SNF game (Cowboys-Jets, 15.3/25 and 25.8 million).
- Adult 18-49 rating of 11.0 is highest for any regular-season primetime NFL game ever on NBC, and is best in the advertiser-coveted demographic for an NFL regular-season primetime game on ANY network in 15 years (Broncos-49ers, 11.6, 12/15/97, on ABC).
- Second most-watched NFL regular-season primetime game on ANY network in 16 years (Packers-Cowboys, 31.5 million, 11/18/96, on ABC).
- Ties 2010 NFL Kickoff opener for highest-rated NFL regular-season primetime game on ANY network in 14 years (Vikings-Packers, 16.8/27, 10/5/98, on ABC).
- 44.2/67 rating in Denver is best for that market for any regular-season NFL game since 9/22/03 (44.5/61 for Oakland-Denver on ABC).
HIGHEST RATED NFL REGULAR-SEASON PRIMETIME GAMES ON NBC | |
T1. 16.5/26 | Steelers-Broncos, 9/9/12 (Sunday Night’s Game) |
T1. 16.5/28 | Vikings-Saints, 9/9/10 (2010 Thursday Night Opener)* |
3. 16.0/26 | Saints-Packers, 9/8/11 (2011 Thursday Night Opener)* |
4. 15.7/25 | Cowboys-Giants, 1/1/12 (2011 SNF Week 17) |
5. 15.4/25 | Vikings-Packers, 10/24/10, (Favre Return to Lambeau II) |
6. 15.3/25 | Cowboys-Jets, 9/11/11 (2011 SNF Week 1) |
7. 15.2/24 | Eagles-Cowboys, 12/12/10 (2010 SNF Week 14) |
8. 15.1/25 | Giants-Cowboys, 9/20/09 (Dallas Cowboys Stadium Debut) |
9. 15.0/25 | Cowboys-Redskins, 9/12/10 (2010 SNF: Week 1) |
10. 14.9/23 | Giants-Cowboys, 12/11/11 (2011 SNF Week 14) |
*Thursday Night Games
MOST WATCHED NFL REGULAR-SEASON PRIMETIME GAMES ON NBC | |
1. 27.62 million | Cowboys-Giants, 1/1/12 (2011 SNF Week 17) |
2. 27.57 million | Steelers-Broncos, 9/9/12 (Sunday Night’s Game) |
3. 27.5 million | Vikings-Saints, 9/9/10 (2010 Thursday Night Opener)* |
4. 27.1 million | Saints-Packers, 9/8/11 (2011 Thursday Night Opener)* |
5. 25.8 million | Cowboys-Jets, 9/11/11 (2011 SNF Week 1) |
6. 25.73 million | Eagles-Cowboys, 12/12/10 (2010 SNF Week 14) |
7. 25.68 million | Vikings-Packers, 10/24/10, (Favre Return to Lambeau II) |
8. 25.3 million | Cowboys-Redskins, 9/12/10 (2010 SNF: Week 1) |
9. 24.8 million | Giants-Cowboys, 9/20/09 (Dallas Cowboys Stadium Debut) |
10. 24.5 million | Giants-Cowboys, 12/11/11 (2011 SNF Week 14) |
* Thursday Night Games
SNF DOMINATED PRIMETIME: Wednesday's Cowboys-Giants game (23.9 million) and Sunday Night’s Broncos-Steelers game (27.6 million) rank as the No. 1 and No. 2 primetime programs of the week among viewers, households and other key ratings categories.
- NBC won Sunday night by all key ratings measures. Among viewers NBC’s margin of victory was 79 percent, or 9.9 million persons in total viewers over the second place network (22.4 million vs. 12.5 million for Fox, which was boosted by an NFL overrun). In adults 18-49, NBC’s margin of victory over the No. 2 network was 71 percent (8.9 vs. 5.2 for Fox).
- This was the highest rated Sunday primetime performance (excluding the Olympics) for any network in both viewers and Adults 18-49 since ABC’s coverage of the Academy Awards on February 26.
TOP METERED MARKETS FOR STEELERS-BRONCOS:
1. Pittsburgh | 51.5/70 |
2. Denver | 44.2/67 |
3. Indianapolis | 28.9/42 |
4. Las Vegas | 24.1/38 |
5. Albuquerque | 23.1/35 |
6. New Orleans | 23.0/31 |
T7. Nashville | 22.5/32 |
T7. San Diego | 22.5/37 |
9. Richmond | 22.4/32 |
10. Baltimore | 22.2/33 |
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--NBC SPORTS GROUP--
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