or


[01/02/12 - 07:12 AM]
Cowboys-Giants Earns Best Overnight Rating in Six-Year History of "Sunday Night Football"
NBC spins the numbers for Sunday, January 1.

[via press release from NBC]

COWBOYS-GIANTS EARNS BEST OVERNIGHT RATING IN SIX-YEAR HISTORY OF "SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL"

17.1 is Best Overnight for ANY Sunday/Monday Primetime Game in 13 Years

Up 36% From Week 17 "Win-and-In" Game Last Year

SNF Is No. 1 Show of Night and Leads NBC to Sunday Night Win

Dallas Leads Metered Markets With 37.1/55 New York is 4th With 25.3/38

NEW YORK - January 2, 2012 - The Cowboys-Giants game on NBC earned the highest overnight rating in the six-year history of Sunday Night Football on NBC, according to overnight data released today by The Nielsen Company.

Last night's game on NBC, in which the Giants defeated the Cowboys, 31-14, to win the NFC East, registered a 17.1 overnight rating and a 27 share, 36 percent higher than last year's Week 17 game (Rams-Seahawks, 12.6/19), which was also a win-and-in game to determine the winner of the NFC West, and topped the previous high Sunday Night Football overnight by one percent (Cowboys-Jets, 16.9/27 in Week 1 this season).

Other Ratings Notes:

· Best overnight for ANY NFL primetime Sunday or Monday game in 13 years (Broncos-Dolphins, 17.4/27, Dec. 21, 1998 on ABC).

· Best overnight rating for an NFL primetime regular-season final game in 17 years (49ers-Vikings, 19.6/33, Dec. 26, 1994 on ABC).

TOP 10 SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL OVERNIGHT RATING/SHARE EVER:
*Sunday's only
1. 1/1/12, Cowboys-Giants 17.1/27 (Last Night's Game)
2. 9/11/11, Cowboys-Jets 16.9/27 (2011 SNF Week 1)
T3. 9/20/09, Giants-Cowboys 16.5/27 (Dallas Cowboys Stadium Debut)
T3. 12/12/10, Eagles-Cowboys 16.5/25 (2010 SNF Week 14)
5. 9/12/10, Cowboys-Redskins 16.4/26 (2010 SNF Opener)
6. 12/11/11, Giants-Cowboys 16.1/25 (2011 SNF Opener)
7. 10/24/10, Vikings/Packers 16.0/25 (Favre's Return to Lambeau II)
8. 11/21/10, Giants-Eagles 15.9/24 (2010 SNF Week 11)
9. 9/18/11, Eagles-Falcons 15.7/25 (2011 SNF Week 2)
10. 11/25/07, Eagles-Patriots 15.6/24 (2007 SNF Week 12)

*9/9/10, Vikings-Saints, 17.7/28 (2010 Thursday Night Opener)

*9/8/11, Saints-Packers, 17.2/28 (2011 Thursday Night Opener)

TOP 10 METERED MARKETS FOR COWBOYS-GIANTS:
1. Dallas, 37.1/55
2. San Antonio, 27.2/39
3. Austin, 26.3/42
T4. New York, 25.3/38
T4. Albuquerque, 25.3/38
T6. New Orleans, 24.7/34
T6. Richmond, 24.7/36
8. Washington D.C., 22.2/37
9. Norfolk, 22.0/32
10. Las Vegas, 21.8/33

NBC NO. 1 ON SUNDAY NIGHT: Last night's Sunday Night Football broadcast won the highest-rated program of the night. NBC led the night among metered markets in primetime (7-11 p.m. ET) with a 12.9/21, topping the 7.5/12 for CBS, which was boosted by an NFL overrun. NBC also beat Fox (3.0/5) by 330 percent and ABC (2.5/4) by 416 percent.

**Viewership numbers will be available when national ratings are released on Wednesday**





  [january 2012]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S


· SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL (NBC)





most recent ratings | view all posts
[10/16/26 - 02:30 PM]
Brewers Triumph on FS1 Delivers Most-Watched LCS Game 3 Telecast Since 2016
On FS1, Game 3 averaged 6,460,000 viewers.

[10/16/26 - 11:45 AM]
"Dancing with the Stars" Scores with Show's "Super Bowl Night"
In fact, among Adults 18-49, "Dancing with the Stars" grew for the fourth telecast in a row, hitting a season high and posting the show's best non-finale episode in over nine years.

[10/16/26 - 10:42 AM]
ABC News Wins Across Friday Night, Sunday Morning and Late Night
"20/20: Born to Kill" ranked as Friday's No.1 newsmagazine in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54, and Adults 18-49.

[10/15/26 - 02:55 PM]
Super Bowl Season Success: Bills-Rams Thriller Propels "Monday Night Football" to Best Five-Week Start of ESPN Era
The matchup featuring the NFL's two most recent MVPs averaged 19.8 million viewers across ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, NFL Network and ESPN Deportes.

[10/15/26 - 02:46 PM]
NLCS Game 2 on FOX/FS1: Most-Watched LCS Game 2 on Any Network Since 2016
On FOX/FS1, the game averaged 6,921,000 viewers.

[10/15/26 - 02:35 PM]
NHL on Frozen Frenzy on ESPN Delivers Double-Digit Increases
The tripleheader averaged 600,000 viewers, up 31% from a year ago.

[10/15/26 - 10:29 AM]
ESPN Delivered Its Most-Watched WNBA Playoffs Ever!
Across eight games, ESPN networks averaged 1.4 million viewers, up 23% compared to coverage through the semifinals last year.

[10/15/26 - 08:00 AM]
CBS Wins Its Premiere Week with Eight of the Top 10 Broadcast Shows and Delivers +9% Year-Over-Year Growth
Weekly viewership averaged 4.43 million viewers, growing +9% from its 2025 premiere week (4.08m viewers).

[10/14/26 - 04:10 PM]
Nebraska Volleyball Serves Up a Big Saturday on FOX
Nebraska's 3-0 win averaged 945,000 viewers on FOX.

[10/14/26 - 03:50 PM]
Indiana's Win Over Nebraska Scores 6,734,000 Viewers on FOX
"Big Noon Saturday" peaked at 9,623,000 viewers.

[10/14/26 - 03:04 PM]
"College GameDay" Continues Record Pace as ESPN College Football Delivers Historic Week 6 Audiences
ABC scored its most-watched college football tripleheader of the season with 8.5 million viewers, led by Georgia-Alabama (12.2 million) and Oklahoma-Texas (9.8 million) - both record-setting rivalry audiences.

[10/14/26 - 02:50 PM]
26,697,000 Viewers for "America's Game of the Week" Highlight FOX NFL's Week 5
Said coverage was the most watched telecast of the week on any network.

[10/14/26 - 02:44 PM]
FOX Scores Most-Watched LCS Game 1 on Any Network Since 2005
10,719,000 viewers tuned in Sunday night for NLCS Game 1 on FOX and FOX Deportes.

[10/14/26 - 11:31 AM]
Top 10 Most-Watched Prime Original Films & Series for the Week of October 5
"Carrie," "Neagley," "Reacher," "Off Campus," and "Sterling Point" led all original series worldwide.

[10/14/26 - 07:29 AM]
ESPN Delivers Sixth Straight Year of Television Viewership Growth, Up 10% in Fiscal Year 2026
ESPN and ESPN on ABC each posted 11% year-over-year growth in total viewership, while ESPN2 increased 3%.