December 29th, 2010

via press release:

TUESDAY EDITION OF “Sunday Night Football” EARNS 15.2 OVERNIGHT; NO. 1 SHOW ON TUESDAY

Tops Last Year’s Week 16 Cowboys-Redskins Game by 31%

Minneapolis (38.4) and Philadelphia (36.3) Lead All Metered Markets

SNF Powers NBC to Another Nightly Win; 16^th Straight Week

Best Tuesday Primetime rating on Any Network This Television Season

NEW YORK – December 29, 2010 – Last night’s special Tuesday edition of “Sunday Night Football” was the top-rated show on Tuesday, the 16^th straight week that primetime football on NBC defeated its nightly competition. The Game, which was originally supposed to be played on Sunday but was delayed by the NFL due to the severe weather in Philadelphia, led NBC to a convincing win on Tuesday night and was up 31 percent over last year’s Week 16 game, according to overnight data released today by the Nielsen Company. The Game, in which the Minnesota Vikings upset the Philadelphia Eagles, 24-14, in the first NFL Tuesday game since 1946, registered a 15.2 overnight rating and a 24 share (8:15-11:15 p.m. ET).

The 15.2/24 overnight rating is an increase of 31 percent over last year’s Week 16 game that featured an NFC East matchup between the Cowboys and the Redskins, which delivered an overnight rating of 11.6/19.

The rating peaked at a 16.5/28 from 11-11:15 p.m. ET.

The 15.2 overnight ties last week’s Packers-Patriots game and Week 2’s Giants-Colts Manning Bowl II as the fifth-highest overnight for a “Sunday Night Football” game this season and the best Week 16 game in the five-year history of SNF.

“Sunday Night Football” WEEK 16 THROUGH THE YEARS:

1. 2010, Vikings-Eagles, 15.2/24 (Tuesday Night Game)
2. 2008, Panthers-Giants, 12.9/21 – up 18 percent
3. 2006, Eagles-Cowboys, 12.5/29 – up 22 percent
4. 2009, Cowboys-Redskins, 11.6/19 – up 31 percent
5. 2007, Redskins-Vikings, 9.9/17 – up 54 percent

DEFEATED ALL TUESDAY NIGHT COMPETITION: Last night’s Tuesday edition of “Sunday Night Football” defeated all Tuesday Night competition, the 16^th straight week that primetime NFL football on NBC defeated its competition, on a night that included such original competition as CBS's Kennedy Center Honors and encores of CBS's NCIS, ABC's Rudolph's Shiny New Year, No Ordinary Family and Detroit 1-8-7, and Fox's Glee.

“Sunday Night Football” powered NBC to a Tuesday night win in primetime, with NBC's 14.7/24 average from 8-11 p.m. ET more than doubling second-place CBS (7.1/11) and topping the combined results of CBS, Fox (3.1/5) and ABC (2.3/4).

Tuesday’s edition of SNF delivered the highest Tuesday metered-market average for any network this season. The prior high was a 12.4 for ABC on November 23, the night of the "Dancing with the Stars" finale.

SNF IS 16 FOR 16: When the viewership is available tomorrow from Nielsen, “Sunday Night Football” is expected to be the most-watched Tuesday night show, the 16^th straight time this season that SNF defeated its nightly competition (every week this season). 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).

TOP METERED MARKETS FOR VIKINGS-EAGLES:

Minneapolis, 38.4/57
Philadelphia, 36.3/53
New Orleans, 29.1/39
Norfolk, 22.9/35
Richmond, 21.8/35
Milwaukee, 19.9/31
Baltimore, 19.6/31
Las Vegas, 19.1/31
Atlanta, 18.2/27
Ft. Myers, 17.9/28

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--NBC SPORTS--

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