Sunday Night Football Ratings on NBC come in at 12.22 Million Viewers and down from 18.94 Million Viewers in Week One of SNF

from www.yahoo.com/YAHOO! Sports…

‘Sunday Night Football’ (NBC)
Historically the highest-rated program of the year, “Sunday Night Football” is a closely watched barometer for how the NFL’s ratings ebb and flow.

Sunday night’s game was a marquee matchup of the Patriots and Seahawks, a game that came down to the final play. Even so, ratings in initial — and we have to stress, INITIAL — returns were down from last week, according to Deadline. (Ratings are always lower in initial returns, as not all markets report in before the figures are made public, and all out-of-home viewing doesn’t come in until later in the week.)

Patriots-Seahawks drew 12.22 million viewers in initial metrics and 3.5 in the ratings in the most prized age demographic between 7 and 11 p.m. ET Sunday night, Deadline noted. That’s down 17 percent in audience and 25 percent in the specific demographic from last week’s early numbers. Last week’s Cowboys-Rams game rose to 18.94 million viewers and a 6.2 rating in final numbers.

Last year’s Week 2 matchup between the Atlanta Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles drew 15.87 million viewers and a rating of 5.3 in initial numbers.

Of note: This week’s game was facing significant competition from the prime-time Emmys as well as a highly competitive Lakers-Nuggets Western Conference finals game.

In sharp contrast to Week 1, the second week of games in the NFL featured little overt messaging in the promotion of social justice.

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