FOX Sports Says "¡No Más!" To Winning Anymore NFL Ratings Battles?

The headline from FOX Sports, "Eight is Enough Already," could be interpreted as saying "¡No más!," we have won enough NFL ratings battles this year. But we all know it cannot mean this because networks always want to win and have to win the battle for eyeballs. What Fox is really saying is that for the eighth time they have had a national game this year, they have exceeded ratings for prior years, and beaten their competition from CBS Sports and NBC Sports in key demographics.


Here is the full release from FOX Sports.

EIGHT IS ENOUGH ALREADY

NFL ON FOX NATIONAL IS WEEK’S HIGHEST-RATED, MOST-WATCHED PROGRAM … AGAIN

Saturday night’s big snowstorm on the East Coast caused 1:00 PM games in Philadelphia (vs. SF) and Baltimore (vs. Chicago) to be rescheduled for 4:15 PM, reversing the NFL on FOX schedule from four games early and two games late to the opposite. The result was a solid 15.1/28 national household rating/share, with 25.8 million viewers on Sunday (12/20) for a four-game National Window. All markets eventually folded into the end of a thrilling Packers-Steelers game, and for the eighth time in as many tries, the NFL on FOX National Game was the highest-rated and most-watched program of the week in all of television.

The audience is +6% and rating +3% better, respectively, than last year’s comparable 24.4 million, 14.7/28 doubleheader on CBS. Besides its perch as television’s No. 1 show among key male and adult demos for the week, it was also No. 1 in women 18-34 and women 18-49. Sunday’s 15.1/28 marks the fifth time this year an NFL on FOX game exceeded a 15.0 rating nationally, which has never happened in 15 prior NFL on FOX seasons.

Through eight broadcasts the NFL on FOX National Game is averaging an impressive 15.5/29 and 26.2 million viewers, up +9% in rating over last year's 14.2/27 and +14% in audience (vs. 22.9 mill). It is also pacing +17% and +20% better, respectively, than CBS's National Game (13.2/25, 21.8 mill), +30% and +34% better, respectively, than NBC's Sunday Night Football (11.9/19, 19.6 mill) and ranks as the highest-rated and most-watched program in all of television across all key male and adult demos for the season.