RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘Sunday Night Football’ Down But NBC Wins Night, ‘Miss America’ Up Strong For ABC

With 3:13 left in the first quarter last night, a Pacific Northwest storm temporarily drowned out NBC’s Sunday Night Football (7.4/19) contest between the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers. Just over an hour later, first-quarter play resumed (at 7:04 PM PT) after the downpour ended. The hometown team certainly didn’t suffer for the delay, though with Seahawks routing their NFC rivals 29-3. However, in the first numbers, Week 2 of the NFL on NBC did not do so well: Between 8:30-11 PM ET, Sunday’s game tumbled 19% from the 9.1/23 fast nationals of Week 1’s New Giants-Dallas Cowboys game, which later went up to a 10.0/27 in the final numbers. Last night’s game drew 18.24 million viewers, down from last week’s 23.25 million in the early numbers. Fast affiliate ratings are not time zone-adjusted, so expect Sunday’s numbers to change later today.

Related: CBS Scores With 15-Year NFL Ratings High For Manning Brothers’ Faceoff

In time zone-adjusted metered-market results, last night’s game on NBC drew a 13.6/24 between 8:30-9 PM ET and 10 PM-12:15 AM ET. Among the takeaway stats, the Seehawks-49ers matchup was the best overnight result for any West Coast NFC primetime game since November 25, 1991, when the 49ers played the then-LA Rams. That faceoff scored a 15.4/24. Overall, NBC easily won the night with a 6.3/17 rating and 15.949 million viewers. CBS was No. 2 with a 2.9/8 rating and 10.277 million viewers. (more…)