SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL on NBC is Off to Highest-Rated Start in 7 Years

NBC's seven-game household rating of 13.4/21 is the best start in the seven-year history of SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL, and the highest-rated start to a season for an NFL primetime package in 13 years (13.5/21 household rating for ABC in 1996).

· The six-week viewership for seven games (22.1 million) is slightly below from 2011 (22.2 million) and is the second most-watched start to a season for a primetime package in 16 years (24.5 million in 1996 on ABC).

SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL THROUGH 6 WEEKS:

YEAR

Viewers 2+ HH Rating

2012

22.1 million, 13.4/21

2011

22.2 million, 13.3/21

2010

21.4 million, 12.9/21

2009

19.7 million, 11.9/19

2008

16.6 million, 10.2/17

2007

16.5 million, 10.4/17

2006

17.2 million, 11.1/18

PACKERS-TEXANS:

Sunday's game on NBC, in which the Packers blew out the Texans, 42-24, drew 19.9 million viewers, up 13% from last year's Week 6 SNF game (16.6 million for Vikings-Bears). It is the most-watched Week 6 game in SNF history, and the most-watched Week 6 primetime game in 12 years (22.0 million for Bucs-Vikings, 10/9/00 on ABC).

The household rating of 11.8/18 for Sunday's Packers-Texans game is up 17% from last year's Week 6 SNF game (10.1/16 for Vikings-Bears) and is the highest-rated Week 6 primetime game in 12 years.

Sunday's game went head-to-head with Game 1 of the National League Championship Series on Fox. It is the most-watched and highest-rated NFL primetime game vs. MLB LCS playoffs in 16 years (26.5 million for 49ers-Packers on 10/14/96).

Every Week 6 Sunday Night Football game in its seven-year history faced MLB LCS playoffs.

SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL WEEK 6 GAMES:

Year

Visitor

Home

Viewers 2+, HH Rating

2012

Packers

Texans

19.9 million, 11.8/18

2011

Vikings

Bears

16.6 million, 10.1/16

2010

Colts

Redskins

19.1 million, 11.7/19

2009

Bears

Falcons

18.2 million, 10.9/17

2008

Patriots

Chargers

13.1 million, 8.2/13

2007

Saints

Seahawks

11.2 million, 7.1/11

2006

Raiders

Broncos

12.3 million, 7.9/12

SNF NO. 1 SHOW FOR OF PRIMETIME SEASON: For the official primetime television season, Sunday Night Football ranks as the No. 1 show among viewers, households and all key adult and male demographics. Additionally, it is the No. 4 show among women 18-34 and No. 5 among women 18-49.

SNF DOMINATES SUNDAY NIGHT: The Packers-Texans Sunday Night Football broadcast easily won the night facing original network programming including Game 1 of the National League Championship Series on Fox. NBC led the night among viewers 2+ in primetime with 17.2 million viewers (7:30-11 p.m. ET) topping the 10.1 million for second-place CBS by 69%. NBC also beat Fox, (9.2), which was aided by an NFL overrun and Game 1 of the NLCS, by 86% and ABC (7.1 million) by 142%. NBC also won the night in households and all key adult and male demographics.

Sunday Night Football has won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Live Sports Series each of the last four years.

TOP 10 METERED MARKETS FOR PACKERS-TEXANS:

1. Milwaukee

51.9/68

2. Houston

32.6/46

3. New Orleans

19.7/27

4. Minneapolis

18.6/29

5. Las Vegas

17.1/28

6. Austin

16.6/26

7. Richmond

15.5/22

8. Chicago

15.3/23

9. Denver

15.2/26

10. Phoenix

14.8/24

Follow NBC Sports PR on Twitter @NBCSportsPR

Follow "Sunday Night Football" on Twitter @SNFonNBC

Follow NBC SportsTalk on Twitter @NBCSportsTalk

Become a fan of "Sunday Night Football" on Facebook at:

Facebook.com/SNFonNBC

Visit SNF All-Access at: http://snfallaccess.nbcsports.com/

Don't Miss a TV News Story Sign up for all the news on the Spring season, discounts & more...