LIONS-SAINTS EARNS 11.9 OVERNIGHT RATING ON "SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL"

SNF Is No. 1 Show of Night

New Orleans Leads Metered Markets with 56.3/69; Detroit is Second with 26.5/37 for first NBC SNF appearance

NEW YORK - December 5, 2011 - Sunday Night Football was the No. 1 broadcast in primetime last night, according to overnight data released today by The Nielsen Company.

Last night's game on NBC, in which the Saints defeated the Lions, 31-17, registered an 11.9 overnight rating and an 18 share, down 18 percent from last year's Week 13 game that featured the Ravens hosting the Steelers (14.6/23). In that game, both teams entered at 8-3, tied for first place in the AFC North. Last night's game was the Lions first on NBC Sunday Night Football and the Detroit market delivered a 26.5 rating/37 share. New Orleans led all markets with a 56.3 rating/69 share.

TOP 10 METERED MARKETS FOR LIONS-SAINTS:
1. New Orleans, 56.3/69
2. Detroit, 26.5/37
3. Las Vegas, 18.7/27
4. San Diego, 16.3/28
5. Milwaukee, 15.4/23
6. Indianapolis, 14.8/23
7. Memphis, 14.4/20
8. Richmond, 14.3/21
9. Kansas City, 14.1/20
10. Sacramento, 13.7/23

40 FOR 41: SNF was the No. 1 show of the night in metered-market households, excluding NFL overruns and post-game shows. When the viewership is available tomorrow from Nielsen, Sunday Night Football is expected to be the most-watched primetime show on Sunday night. This will mark the 40th time in 41 primetime NFL games - dating back to Week 7 in 2009 - that NBC has defeated its competition (37 Sundays, two Thursdays and one Tuesday).

NBC TIED FOR NO. 1 ON SUNDAY NIGHT: Last night's Sunday Night Football game led NBC to a tie for No. 1 for the night among metered markets in primetime (7-11 p.m.) with a 9.1/14, tying the 9.1/14 for Fox, which was boosted by an NFL overrun. NBC also beat CBS (7.4/11) by 23 percent and ABC (4.9/8) by 86 percent.

**Viewership numbers will be available when national ratings are released tomorrow**