• CNNMoney, Thursday, September 7, 2006 11:47 AM

NBC finally may show some signs of life this year, largely on the back of its new sports offering. The Peacock Network will air "Sunday Night Football," and if it can replicate what ABC has done on Mondays, it would be NBC's biggest hit. Last year, "Monday Night Football" on ABC averaged 16.2 million viewers a week, becoming the 10th-most-watched program in prime time last year. That compares to NBC programs "Crossing Jordan" and "Law and Order: Criminal Intent"--which averaged less than 11 million viewers apiece. "NBC has a lot going for them. The NFL is a proven ratings generator, and it's the anti-TiVo. People don't tend to fast-forward commercials when watching sports," says Rick Dudley, head of Octagon Group, a sports-marketing company.

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