NFL Ratings Sink In Second Week Of Season

NFL games took another eye-opening hit in the second week of the season -- prompting some anxious reactions from media analysts.

Average viewership for its national TV games sank 10% for the second week of the season to 15.8 million Nielsen viewers, down from 17.6 million.

For the second week of the season, NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” game with the Green Bay Packers vs. the Atlanta Falcons was down 11% from the same week the year before to 20.2 million viewers -- and down from the first week, which registered 24.4 million viewers.

By contrast, Fox’s second-week, late afternoon Sunday game grabbed top honors. The big game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Denver Broncos grew 22% from a year ago to 25.9 million viewers.

The first week of the season witnessed a 12% decline to a 16.4 million average from 18.7 million the previous year.

In press reports, John Janedis, media analyst for Jefferies, said a continued 10% decline in national TV NFL ratings for the season could mean a collective $200 million cut in earnings from media companies airing the games on their TV networks.

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