Posted at 12:56 a.m., Tuesday, November 6, 2007
NFL: Colts-Patriots is a ratings winner
By Barry Horn
The Dallas Morning News
The battle of the NFL's last two unbeaten teams scored a 22.5 in the 56 major markets that are wired to produce overnight ratings. That's the highest overnight rating for a Sunday afternoon game dating to 1987. Pre-1987 records weren't immediately available, according to CBS, which broadcast the game.
The previous best overnight was a 22.4 for a Cowboys-San Francisco 49ers game on Fox in November 1996. The Cowboys won that game in overtime, 20-17.
The Patriots-Colts game earned a healthy 23.1 rating in Dallas-Fort Worth, but that was only 26th among the major markets. Indianapolis was No. 1 with a 45.9 rating, and Boston was No. 2 at 38.7.
Not surprisingly, Dallas-Fort Worth was the No.1 market for Sunday night's Cowboys-Philadelphia Eagles game. It scored a 34.9. Overall, the lopsided NBC game produced a relatively low 11.5 overnight rating among the major markets.
Texas Motor Speedway's Dickies 500 on ABC proved no match for the NFL numbers. The eighth race in the Chase for the Nextel Cup scored a 3.6 in the major markets. D-FW was 19th with a 4.7. Greenville, S.C., was No.1 at 12.4 followed by Charlotte, N.C., at 11.3.
