Patriots-Eagles Was Highest-Rated Game for NBC on Sunday Night

[JJP]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601079&sid=aTGYULD3NZ8I&refer=amsports

Patriots-Eagles Was Highest-Rated Game for NBC on Sunday Night
By Mason Levinson

Nov. 26 (Bloomberg) -- New England's 31-28 win over Philadelphia yesterday earned NBC its highest rating in the two seasons it's broadcast Sunday night National Football League games, the network said.

General Electric Co.'s ``NBC Sunday Night Football'' was watched by an average of 15.6 percent of homes in the top 56 U.S. media markets, the network said in a news release. The overnight rating was 44 percent higher than NBC's previous high, a game between the Indianapolis Colts and Eagles a year ago today.

The rating peaked at 17.3 during the fourth quarter as the undefeated Patriots (11-0), who were 24-point favorites, rallied to win on a four-yard touchdown run by Laurence Maroney with about seven minutes to play.

The game, which according to NBC outdrew ABC's ``Desperate Housewives'' by 41 percent, was the league's highest-rated primetime package since a Nov. 28, 2005, matchup between the Colts and Pittsburgh Steelers, which had a 15.8 rating on Walt Disney Co.'s ABC.

Large-market ratings represent about 70 percent of the 109.6 million U.S. households with televisions.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mason Levinson in New York at [email protected].