Cowboys are good for ratings: SNF viewership hits season-high mark

So here’s a bold idea: put big-name teams in marquee TV slots, and ratings will roll in.

The Saints-Cowboys showdown on Sunday Night Football wasn’t quite the hammer-down, jump-the-tracks epic brawl we’d hoped for, but the 12-10 Saints win nevertheless recorded the highest ratings of the season for “Sunday Night Football.” Early ratings came in at 15.5/27 rating and share, an increase of 21 percent from last week’s Rams-Browns game. The game also marked a 26 percent ratings increase over last year’s comparable Week 4 game, Ravens-Steelers.

CBS also saw a bump in its afternoon national game, which was mostly Vikings-Bears. With a 13.0/26 rating/share, the game was a 6 percent from last year’s comparable game. In regional games, CBS saw a 1 percent increase over 2018.

Fox Sports, meanwhile, reported strong performances from some key NFL cities:

To date, Fox is reporting that its overall ratings—12.4/26—are up 4 percent over last year’s numbers.

[This post will be updated as more ratings data is released.]

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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.

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