COVERAGE BEGINS WITH FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA AT 7 PM ET
“This is a playoff game.” – Tony Dungy
“In tight games like this, I trust Eli not Romo.” – Rodney Harrison
24.0 Million Watch Bears-Packers; Most-Watched NFL Christmas Primetime Game Since 1995
Sunday Night Football is Most-Watched and Highest-Rated Show of Primetime Television Season
NEW YORK – December 28, 2011 – The NFC East division title is on the line as the New York Giants (8-7) host the Dallas Cowboys (8-7) in a win-and-in game on Sunday Night Football. The winner will be the No. 4 seed in the NFC and will host a Wild Card round playoff game next week, while the loser’s season is over. The last time these two teams met was Week 14 on Sunday Night Football with the Giants rallying from 12 points down in the fourth quarter to defeat the Cowboys, 37-34, in Dallas. The game was seen by 24.5 million people, the second-most watched SNF game this season (see chart below).
Calling Cowboys-Giants will be six-time Emmy Award-winner Al Michaels (play-by-play), in his 26th season as the voice of the NFL’s premier primetime package; 12-time Emmy Award-winner Collinsworth, who won the Emmy for outstanding event analyst in both of his seasons in the Sunday Night Football booth; and sideline reporter Michele Tafoya, in her first season on SNF.
Coverage begins Sunday with Football Night in America at 7 p.m. ET with 22-time Emmy Award-winner Bob Costas hosting the program live from inside MetLife Stadium. Costas is joined on site by Michaels and Collinsworth for reaction to the afternoon games.
Dan Patrick co-hosts Football Night from Studio 8G at NBC’s 30 Rockefeller Plaza studios and is joined by Super Bowl-winning head coach Tony Dungy, two-time Super Bowl winner Rodney Harrison, Peter King of Sports Illustrated and Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk on NBCSports.com. Alex Flanagan will report from Sports Authority Field at Mile High on the Chiefs-Broncos game.
ON COWBOYS-GIANTS:
Collinsworth: “There were so many points and so many yards put up in that last one (Week 14 game) that maybe it comes down to the defensive side of the ball on Sunday. Jason Pierre Paul was remarkable in the last game. He really almost won the thing by himself. And DeMarcus Ware is going to have to get after Eli Manning.”
Harrison: “It’s going to be more of a defensive-minded game. The Cowboys are going to come out and try to slow down the Giants pass rush by running the ball. The Giants will win. They will run the ball with Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw, and in tight games like this, I trust Eli not Romo.”
Dungy: “This is a playoff game.”
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24.0 MILLION WATCHED BEARS-PACKERS; MOST-WATCHED NFL CHRISTMAS PRIMETIME GAME SINCE 1995
The Bears-Packers game on Sunday Night Football was seen by 24.0 million viewers, the most for an NFL game played on Christmas night since 1995 (Cowboys-Cardinals, 25.4 million on ABC). The 24.0 million for Sunday’s game is three percent higher than the last game played on Christmas night (Eagles-Cowboys, 23.4 million on Christmas 2006 on NBC), and 39 percent higher than the Christmas night game in 2000 (Cowboys-Titans, 17.3 million on ABC).
Additionally, the Christmas night game is the third most-watched SNF game this season, the eighth most-watched game in the six-year history of NBC Sunday Night Football and one percent higher than last year’s Week 16 game (Vikings-Eagles, 23.7 million), which was played on a Tuesday night due to a snow postponement.
MOST WATCHED “SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL” GAMES:
*Sundays Only
1. 25.8 million, Cowboys-Jets, 9/11/11 (2011 SNF Week 1)
2. 25.73 million, Eagles-Cowboys, 12/12/10 (2010 SNF Week 14)
3. 25.68 million, Vikings-Packers, 10/24/10, (Favre Return to Lambeau II)
4. 25.3 million, Cowboys-Redskins, 9/12/10 (2010 SNF: Week 1)
5. 24.8 million, Giants-Cowboys, 9/20/09 (Dallas Cowboys Stadium Debut)
6. 24.5 million, Giants-Cowboys, 12/11/11 (2011 SNF Week 14)
7. 24.2 million, Packers-Patriots, 12/19/10 (2010 SNF Week 15)
8. 24.0 million, Bears-Packers, 12/25/11 (2011 Christmas Night Game)
9. 23.7 million, Vikings-Eagles, 12/28/10 (2010 SNF Week 16 – Tuesday Game)
10. 23.4 million, Eagles-Falcons, 9/18/11 (2011 SNF Week 2)
*9/9/10, Vikings-Saints, 27.5 million (2010 Thursday Night Opener)
*9/8/11, Saints-Packers, 27.2 million (2011 Thursday Night Opener)
TOP 10 METERED MARKETS FOR BEARS-PACKERS:
1. Milwaukee, 45.8/73
2. Chicago, 29.2/55
3. New Orleans, 20.7/32
4. Las Vegas, 18.5/33
5. Minneapolis, 17.9/37
6. Nashville, 17.3/28
7. Albuquerque, 16.6/29
8. Greenville/Spartanburg, 15.5/25
9. Norfolk, 14.8/26
10. Richmond, 14.7/25
SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL DOMINATES PRIMETIME
Through 16 weeks of the NFL season (16 Sundays and one Thursday), Sunday Night Football is averaging 21.2 million viewers, and a household rating of 12.7/20.
- For the primetime television season,* Sunday Night Football ranks as the most-watched (persons 2+) and highest-rated show, and the No. 1 program across the key demographics of Adults 18-49, 18-34, 25-54 as well as Men 18-49, 18-34 and 25-54, based on Nielsen live + same day data. Additionally, SNF is the No. 4 show among both Women 18-34 and Women 18-49
*NOTE: The primetime television season began on Sept. 19 and does not include the first three NBC primetime games (Thursday night NFL Kickoff Opener and first two SNF games).
· The critically acclaimed Football Night in America is the most-watched and highest-rated NFL pregame show averaging 8.7 million viewers and a household rating of 5.3/9 (7:30-8:15 p.m. ET) through 16 weeks, both up six percent from last season and the most in the six-year history of Football Night.
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