The showdown between the NFC’s top two teams, the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers, turned out to be more than just a good game. It may end up being a great selling point for the embattled NFL Network.
The Cowboys’ 37-27 victory averaged a network-record 10.1 million total viewers last Thursday at 8:15 p.m. It drew a 5.9 rating among men 18-49, ranking No. 1 for the day on both cable and broadcast, despite the fact that the network is available in fewer than 40 percent of the nation’s television households.
The game drew the ninth-largest audience of the year on cable, but perhaps most impressive was the game’s cable coverage rating, the best on cable in more than 14 years.
The cable coverage area takes into account the proportion of households tuning into a show who have the channel available in their house. It’s essentially a way of standardizing ratings between networks with vastly different levels of distribution.
Thursday’s game drew a 14.6 cable coverage rating, the best since CNN’s Ross Perot-Al Gore NAFTA debate in 1993. By comparison, ESPN’s “Monday Night Football,” the most-watched show on cable last week, drew a 9.9.
ESPN is available in more than 90 million homes while NFL Network is available in just 43 million.
But perhaps the huge numbers for this game will change that. The NFL and cable carriers including Time Warner and Comcast have been involved in a fierce distribution dispute since last year, when the NFL Network began televising games.
The cable carriers argue that NFL Network is a niche channel, lacking the broad appeal of general-interest networks like TNT or ESPN, and thus belongs on a premium tier. They don’t want to pay large per-subscriber fees for a network that, aside from the NFL games, airs mostly analysis and archive footage not of interest to casual fans.
The NFL argues it should be on a basic tier because of those widely appealing games, and its argument certainly will get a boost from last week’s game results.
The network says hundreds of thousands of emails were sent last week from the new site Iwantnflnetwork.com to local and national elected officials and cable companies protesting the network’s limited distribution, while satellite companies Dish Network and DirecTV, which carry NFL Network on basic tiers, have wooed away several thousand cable customers with promises of a free switch.
And the outcry may get even louder next month. The New England Patriots, bidding to become the league’s first undefeated team in more than three decades, play their season ender on NFL Network on Dec. 29 in a game that’s already getting lots of attention.
Meanwhile, in other ad-supported cable ratings for the week ended Dec. 2:
Top five networks in primetime (18-49s): ESPN, USA, TBS, Sci Fi, ABC Family
Top five networks in primetime (total viewers): ESPN, USA, ABC Family, Lifetime, Hallmark
Top movie (18-49s): Sci Fi’s “Tin Man-Part One” (Sunday 9 p.m.) 3.4 million
Top sporting event (total viewers): ESPN’s “Dolphins/Steelers” (Monday 8:30 p.m.) 13.1 million
Shows making the top 10 among 18-34s, 18-49s and 25-54s: ESPN’s “Dolphins/Steelers” (Monday 8:30 p.m.); NFL Network’s “Packers/Cowboys” (Thursday 8:15 p.m.); Sci Fi’s “Tin Man-Part One” (Sunday 9 p.m.); FX’s “Nip/Tuck” (Tuesday 10 p.m.); NFL Network’s “Pregame Kickoff” (Thursday 8 p.m.); ESPN’s “SportsCenter” (Monday 11:30 p.m.)
Show on the rise: Sci Fi’s “Tin Man-Part One,” Sunday 9 p.m. Part one of the two-part miniseries reimagining the classic book “The Wizard of Oz” averaged a network-record 6.3 million total viewers, bettering the record held by “Taken.”
|
TOP 25 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS
Ranked on Household Rating
Week Ending Dec. 2 |
|
Rank |
Primetime |
Total Day |
|
Net |
(000) |
Net |
(000) |
|
1
|
ESPN
|
2525
|
NICK
|
1636
|
|
2
|
USA
|
2160
|
NAN *
|
1087
|
|
3
|
LIF
|
1517
|
ESPN
|
1029
|
|
4
|
TNT
|
1411
|
USA
|
1021
|
|
5
|
HALL
|
1369
|
TNT
|
981
|
|
6
|
FAM
|
1366
|
LIF
|
929
|
|
7
|
TBSC
|
1335
|
TOON
|
813
|
|
8
|
SCIF
|
1234
|
TBSC
|
810
|
|
9
|
FOXN
|
1179
|
ADSM*
|
752
|
|
10
|
NAN
|
1173
|
FOXN
|
746
|
|
11
|
FX
|
1149
|
HALL
|
732
|
|
12
|
AEN
|
1011
|
FAM
|
724
|
|
13
|
TOON
|
1010
|
AEN
|
655
|
|
14
|
MTV
|
972
|
FX
|
601
|
|
15
|
NFLN
|
956
|
HIST
|
549
|
|
16
|
SPK
|
955
|
MTV
|
530
|
|
17
|
CORT
|
947
|
SPK
|
529
|
|
18
|
CNN
|
932
|
DISC
|
523
|
|
19
|
DISC
|
844
|
CORT
|
518
|
|
20
|
HIST
|
842
|
SCIF
|
509
|
|
21
|
AMC
|
841
|
HGTV
|
505
|
|
22
|
HGTV
|
788
|
TVLD
|
488
|
|
23
|
VH1
|
771
|
FOOD
|
485
|
|
24
|
CMDY
|
752
|
CNN
|
484
|
|
25
|
TLC
|
656
|
CMDY
|
449
|
|
* Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24-hour day.
Source: Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research.
|
|
TOP 25 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE PROGRAMS
Ranked on Households
Week Ending Dec. 2 |
|
Rank
|
Program |
Net
|
(000) |
|
1
|
Dolphins/Steelers
|
ESPN
|
9587
|
|
2
|
2007-
Packers vs. Cowboys
|
NFLN
|
6310
|
|
3
|
NFL Game Pre-Kickoff
|
NFLN
|
3957
|
|
4
|
Tin Man: Part One
|
SCIF
|
3933
|
|
5
|
WWE Entertainment
|
USA
|
3529
|
|
6
|
WWE Entertainment
|
USA
|
3285
|
|
7
|
SR/CNN YouTube GOP Debate
|
CNN
|
3268
|
|
8
|
Sportscenter
|
ESPN
|
3140
|
|
9
|
Law & Order: CI (orig)
|
USA
|
3129
|
|
10
|
Spongebob
|
NICK
|
3127
|
|
11
|
The Hills
|
MTV
|
2990
|
|
12
|
Spongebob
|
NICK
|
2938
|
|
13
|
Shot At Love: Tila Tequila
|
MTV
|
2909
|
|
14
|
Spongebob
|
NICK
|
2877
|
|
15
|
Spongebob
|
NICK
|
2865
|
|
16
|
Spongebob
|
NICK
|
2815
|
|
17
|
Back At The Barnyard
|
NICK
|
2804
|
|
18
|
College Football Saturday
|
ESPN
|
2793
|
|
19
|
Spongebob
|
NICK
|
2752
|
|
20
|
The Road To Christmas
|
LIF
|
2707
|
|
21
|
Holiday Switch
|
LIF
|
2706
|
|
22
|
Spongebob
|
NICK
|
2681
|
|
23
|
Spongebob
|
NICK
|
2656
|
|
24
|
I Love New York 2
|
VH1
|
2638
|
|
25
|
Back At The Barnyard
|
NICK
|
2612
|
|
Source: Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research.
|
|
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS
Adults 18-34
Week Ending Dec. 2 |
|
Rank |
PRIME TIME |
TOTAL DAY |
|
Net |
(000) |
Net |
(000) |
|
1
|
ESPN
|
912
|
ESPN
|
443
|
|
2
|
USA
|
719
|
ADSM*
|
374
|
|
3
|
TBSC
|
679
|
TBSC
|
354
|
|
4
|
MTV
|
618
|
NICK
|
352
|
|
5
|
FX
|
466
|
NAN *
|
348
|
|
6
|
SCIF
|
446
|
MTV
|
314
|
|
7
|
FAM
|
425
|
USA
|
303
|
|
8
|
CMDY
|
409
|
FX
|
253
|
|
9
|
VH1
|
406
|
TNT
|
253
|
|
10
|
NFLN
|
359
|
CMDY
|
245
|
|
* Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24-hour day.
Source: Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research.
|
|
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE SHOWS
Adults 18-34
Week Ending Dec. 2 |
|
Rank |
PROGRAM |
NET |
(000) |
|
1
|
Dolphins/Steelers
|
ESPN
|
3462
|
|
2
|
The Hills
|
MTV
|
2770
|
|
3
|
2007-
Packers vs. Cowboys
|
NFLN
|
2502
|
|
4
|
Shot At Love: Tila Tequila
|
MTV
|
2143
|
|
5
|
I Love New York 2
|
VH1
|
1625
|
|
6
|
Tin Man: Part One
|
SCIF
|
1618
|
|
7
|
Nip Tuck
|
FX
|
1617
|
|
8
|
Real World XIX
|
MTV
|
1480
|
|
9
|
NFL Game Pre-Kickoff
|
NFLN
|
1455
|
|
10
|
Sportscenter
|
ESPN
|
1401
|
|
Source: Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research.
|
|
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS
Adults 18-49
Week Ending Dec. 2 |
|
Rank |
PRIME TIME |
TOTAL DAY |
|
Net |
(000) |
Net |
(000) |
|
1
|
ESPN
|
1732
|
ESPN
|
746
|
|
2
|
USA
|
1464
|
USA
|
634
|
|
3
|
TBSC
|
1070
|
TBSC
|
601
|
|
4
|
SCIF
|
940
|
NAN *
|
579
|
|
5
|
FAM
|
910
|
TNT
|
565
|
|
6
|
FX
|
873
|
NICK
|
555
|
|
7
|
NFLN
|
817
|
LIF
|
493
|
|
8
|
MTV
|
767
|
ADSM*
|
468
|
|
9
|
LIF
|
729
|
FAM
|
463
|
|
10
|
TNT
|
719
|
FX
|
462
|
|
* Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24-hour day.
Source: Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research.
|
|
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE SHOWS
Adults 18-49
Week Ending Dec. 2 |
|
Rank |
PROGRAM |
NET |
(000) |
|
1
|
Dolphins/Steelers
|
ESPN
|
6901
|
|
2
|
2007-
Packers vs. Cowboys
|
NFLN
|
5610
|
|
3
|
Tin Man: Part One
|
SCIF
|
3403
|
|
4
|
NFL Game Pre-Kickoff
|
NFLN
|
3376
|
|
5
|
The Hills
|
MTV
|
3204
|
|
6
|
Nip Tuck
|
FX
|
2656
|
|
7
|
Shot At Love: Tila Tequila
|
MTV
|
2587
|
|
8
|
WWE Entertainment
|
USA
|
2513
|
|
9
|
Sportscenter
|
ESPN
|
2453
|
|
10
|
WWE Entertainment
|
USA
|
2278
|
|
Source: Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research.
|
|
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS
Adults 25-54
Week Ending Dec. 2 |
|
|
PRIME TIME |
TOTAL DAY |
|
Rank
|
Net |
(000) |
Net |
(000) |
|
1
|
ESPN
|
1634
|
ESPN
|
645
|
|
2
|
USA
|
1325
|
USA
|
606
|
|
3
|
SCIF
|
994
|
TNT
|
590
|
|
4
|
FAM
|
883
|
LIF
|
512
|
|
5
|
TBSC
|
861
|
TBSC
|
499
|
|
6
|
NFLN
|
807
|
NICK
|
471
|
|
7
|
TNT
|
797
|
NAN *
|
453
|
|
8
|
LIF
|
783
|
FAM
|
419
|
|
9
|
FX
|
756
|
FX
|
392
|
|
10
|
SPK
|
656
|
AEN
|
390
|
|
* Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24-hour day.
Source: Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research.
|
|
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE SHOWS
Adults 25-54
Week Ending Dec. 2 |
|
Rank |
PROGRAM |
NET |
(000) |
|
1
|
Dolphins/Steelers
|
ESPN
|
6730
|
|
2
|
2007-
Packers vs. Cowboys
|
NFLN
|
5503
|
|
3
|
Tin Man: Part One
|
SCIF
|
3780
|
|
4
|
NFL Game Pre-Kickoff
|
NFLN
|
3329
|
|
5
|
WWE Entertainment
|
USA
|
2286
|
|
6
|
Sportscenter
|
ESPN
|
2199
|
|
7
|
WWE Entertainment
|
USA
|
2113
|
|
8
|
College Football Saturday
|
ESPN
|
1943
|
|
9
|
Law & Order: CI (orig)
|
USA
|
1790
|
|
10
|
Nip Tuck
|
FX
|
1781
|
|
Source: Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research.
|
