The Washington Redskins opened the Jim Zorn era with a preseason victory for their new head coach. They also helped give NBC a big boost over last year.
The first preseason edition of “Sunday Night Football” averaged a 2.4 adults 18-49 rating from 8 to 11 p.m. last night, according to Nielsen overnights, up 50 percent over last year’s 1.6.
That was still well below the 3.3 for the preseason Hall of Fame game two years ago, but NBC won the night easily with a 24 percent advantage over second-place Fox.
The Redskins defeated the Indianapolis Colts 30-16 on a weekend where two former Redskins players, Art Monk and Darrell Green, were enshrined in the Hall of Fame.
That little bit of synergy may have helped boost NBC’s ratings, as might lack of competition. Every other network was down compared with the same night last year.
NBC led the night among viewers 18-49 with a 2.1 average overnight rating and a 7 share. Fox was second at 1.7/5, CBS third at 1.5/5, ABC fourth at 1.3/4, Univision fifth at 0.9/3 and CW sixth at 0.4/1.
ABC started the night in the lead with a 1.6 at 7 p.m. for a repeat of “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” followed by NBC with a 1.4 for “Dateline.” CBS was third with a 1.2 for “60 Minutes.” Univision and Fox tied for fourth at 0.8, Univision for a soccer friendly between Barcelona and Chivas Guadalajara and Fox for repeats of “’Til Death,” with CW sixth with a 0.3 for a “One Tree Hill” rerun.
At 8 p.m. NBC took the lead with a 2.4 for the first hour of the “SNF” preseason game between the Colts and Redskins, while CBS moved to second with a 2.3 for “Big Brother.” Fox was third with a 2.0 for an hour of “The Simpsons” repeats, Univision fourth with a 1.0 for another hour of soccer, ABC fifth with a 0.9 for “High School Musical: Get In the Picture” and CW sixth with a 0.4 for repeats of “Everybody Hates Chris” and “Aliens in America.”
NBC led again at 9 p.m. with a 2.4 for more football, with Fox second with a 2.3 for repeats of “Family Guy” and “American Dad.” ABC was third with a 1.6 for a repeat of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” CBS fourth with a 1.3 for a “Million Dollar Password” rerun, Univision fifth with a 1.0 for “Historias para Contar: Vicente Fernandez” and CW sixth with a 0.4 for repeats of “The Game” and “Girlfriends.”
At 10 p.m. NBC was first again with a 2.4 for more football, followed by CBS with a 1.3 for a “Cold Case” repeat. ABC was third with a 1.1 for a repeat of “Desperate Housewives” and Univision fourth with a 1.0 for “El Pantera.”
CBS and NBC tied for the lead for the night among households, each with a 4.3 average overnight rating and an 8 share. ABC was third at 2.6/5, Fox fourth at 2.4/4, Univision fifth at 1.0/2 and CW sixth at 0.6/1.
