"MANNING BOWL II" BLOWOUT OUTRATES ORIGINAL "MANNING BOWL" BY 3%

15.2 is 5th Best SNF Overnight Ever

Rating Peaked at 17.0 at 9 p.m. ET

SNF Again is No. 1 Broadcast of Sunday Night

NEW YORK - Sept. 20, 2010 - Despite last night's Colts 38-14 blowout over the Giants in "Manning Bowl II," "Sunday Night Football's" overnight rating was still three percent above the much-hyped original "Manning Bowl," which opened the Colts and Giants 2006 season and was the debut game for NBC's "Sunday Night Football." Last night's Colts rout was the fifth- best overnight rating in SNF history and peaked at a 17.0/26 in the first quarter, according to overnight data released today by The Nielsen Company.

The game, in which the Colts led 24-0 at halftime, generated a 15.2 overnight rating and 24 share (8:30-11:15 p.m. ET), a gain of three percent over "Manning Bowl I" (14.7/23 in Week 1, 2006 - Colts won 26-21) and stands as the fifth highest-rated SNF game ever. See chart below. Also:

The rating peaked at a 17.0/26 from 9-9:30 p.m. ET in the first quarter when the Colts led 7-0 and held at a 16.9/26 from 9:30-10 p.m. ET going into halftime when the Colts expanded their lead to 24-0.

All three NBC games this season rank among the top six NBC primetime games ever.

DOMINATED PRIMETIME: "Sunday Night Football" once again powered NBC to win the night. During primetime (7-11 p.m. ET), NBC averaged 11.9/19 in the metered markets, up 32 percent over the 9.0/14 for second-place CBS, which was boosted by a 44-minute NFL overrun. NBC generated roughly four times both Fox's 3.0/5 and ABC's 2.7/4 in metered-market primetime averages.

For the second straight week "Sunday Night Football" was the No. 1 broadcast of Sunday night.

When the viewership is available tomorrow from Nielsen, "Sunday Night Football" is expected to be the most-watched Sunday night show for the second consecutive week. Last season, SNF was the most- watched Sunday night primetime broadcast in a record 15 of 16 (94 percent) weeks. In 2008, SNF won 13 of 16 (81 percent) Sunday nights after winning 11 of 16 in 2007 (69 percent) and nine of 16 in 2006 (56 percent).

"SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL" TOP 10 OVERNIGHT RATING/SHARE:
*Sundays Only
1. 9/12/10, Cowboys-Redskins, 16.6/26 (Week 1 - 2010)
2. 9/20/09, Giants-Cowboys, 16.5/27 (Dallas Cowboys Stadium Debut)
3. 11/25/07, Eagles-Patriots, 15.6/24
4. 12/14/08, Giants-Cowboys, 15.4/24
5. 9/19/10, Giants-Colts, 15.2/24 (Last Night's "Manning Bowl II")
T6. 11/15/09, Patriots-Colts, 15.1/24
T6. 11/5/06, Colts-Patriots, 15.1/22
8. 9/10/06, Colts-Giants, 14.7/23 (Original "Manning Bowl")
9. 9/21/08, Cowboys-Packers, 14.4/22
10. 11/8/09, Cowboys-Eagles, 14.3/23

*The NFL Kickoff Opener on Thursday, Sept. 9, 2010 between the Vikings and Saints generated an overnight rating/share of 17.7/28.

The 15.2/24 overnight rating for last night's game was only eight percent below the Week 2 game last season, the much-hyped opening of the new $1.3 billion Cowboys Stadium that the Giants won 33-31 and, at the time, was the highest-rated game in "Sunday Night Football" history (16.5/27 overnight). TOP 11 METERED MARKETS FOR GIANTS-COLTS:
1. Indianapolis, 44.9/61
2. New Orleans, 30.6/41
3. Las Vegas, 23.2/34
4. Nashville, 23.1/32
T5. Norfolk, 19.5/29
T5. Knoxville, 19.5/28
7. Richmond, 18.8/29
8. Dayton, 18.0/27
T9. Charlotte, 17.8/27
T9. Milwaukee, 17.8/27
11. New York, 17.7/27

MICHAELS AND COLLINSWORTH WRAP UP GIANTS-COLTS: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/22825103/vp/39264088#39264088