Record Breaking Audience for Patriots, Colts
November 6, 2007 by David Kindervater
Filed under Indianapolis Colts, New England Patriots
Blogging the National Football League, Blogging the NFL
I knew the ratings were going to be good. This past Sunday’s game between the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts was viewed by 33.8 million fans, ranking as the most-watched regular-season game on an NFL Sunday since at least 1987 (Nielsen Media Research viewership numbers unavailable prior to that date). The New England/Indy game topped the week’s second-most watched show by 12.4 million viewers (”Dancing with the Stars” had 21.4 million viewers) and is the most-watched show on TV since the Academy Awards on February 25, 2007 (40.4 million viewers).
If you think the NFL’s massive popularity begins and ends there, think again. Four of the top five most watched shows on TV from September 6 to November 4 were NFL games. Plus, NFL games topped the local ratings in 28 of 30 NFL markets last week (Oct. 29-Nov. 4). In the 26 non-NFL markets metered by Nielsen Media Research, the Patriots/Colts game was the top-rated program in 19 (73%) of those markets.
