RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘SNF’ Wins Despite Blowout, ‘The Sound Of Music’ Rises

December 23, 2013 9:26am

No wonder the NFL is looking to bring a team back to Los Angeles — in football TV ratings, the size of the teams’ TV markets does matter. Take last night’s Philadelphia Eagles-Chicago Bears 54-11 blowout in a face-off between the home teams of the No.3 and No.4 markets in the country. Despite the game posting the most lopsided outcome so far this season, with the Eagles taking a 21-point lead after the first quarter, the game still managed a 12.5 rating in the metered-market households from 8:30 PM-11:15 PM — up 15% from last week’s game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers, representing TV markets No. 23 and 34. NBC is projected to win the night in 18-49 and total viewers.

The halo effect from the success of NBC’s The Sound Of Music live staging is spreading to the 1965 movie. Last night’s rebroadcast on ABC drew 6.5 million viewers and a 1.3 in AD18-49 on ABC — up 25% in total viewers and 18% in 18-49 from last year. This was the movie’s most-watched airing in 6 years and highest-rated among 18-49 in 3 years – since 2007 and 2010, respectively. The only non-sports original offering last night was CBS’ 60 Minutes (1.8), which was delayed by an hour in most markets by the Patriots/Ravens NFL game and is running 20% ahead of last week.