NBC's NFL debut trounces primetime competition

By Paul J. Gough

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - NBC scored a field goal with its
opening night of "Sunday Night Football," trampling the competition
with a sure victory in primetime.

Final ratings won't be in until Tuesday, but initial data showed
Sunday's Oakland Raiders-Philadelphia Eagles game averaged 9.8 million
viewers and a 3.6 rating/10 share among adults 18-49, according to
numbers released Monday by Nielsen Media Research. But the figures
don't take into account time zone differences, so they're generally
unreliable.

But it's still in the ballpark and the final number is likely higher
than the 3.3/9 that ABC got for its Hall of Fame game on Monday, August
8, 2005. That game finished up with a 3.5/10 in the final numbers.

More good news for NBC, which is expecting "Sunday Night Football" to
not only help Sunday night's averages but also help promote its
schedule.

In the top "metered" markets, Sunday's game averaged a 7.0 household
rating, down slightly from the 7.1 rating that ABC got in the metered
markets for last year's Hall of Fame game that was played on a Monday
in August.

At 7 p.m., the battle of the news magazines went to NBC's "Dateline"
(8.3 million, 2.6/9 in adults 18-49) over CBS's "60 Minutes" (8.8
million, 1.7/6). The night's top non-NFL program was tied between
"Dateline" and Fox's "Family Guy" (5.2 million, 2.6/7).

Nightly averages: ABC (6.1 million, 2.0/6); CBS (8.4 million, 2.2/7);
NBC (9.5 million, 3.4/10); Fox (4.1 million, 2.0/6) and The WB (1.2
million, 0.4/1).

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter