NBC has best overnight rating in 13 years for Cowboys-Redskins opener

Strong ratings for Cowboys-Redskins opener

NEW YORK — Sunday night’s game between the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins has drawn the best overnight rating for a prime-time season opener in 13 years.

NBC’s audience was up 24 percent over the 2009 Sunday night opener, making it the top-rated Sunday night game since NBC took over the package in 2006.

The Redskins’ 13-7 victory earned a 16.6 overnight rating and 26 share, the best numbers since Bears vs. Packers on Sept. 1, 1997.

The only primetime NFL broadcast with a higher overnight rating dating back to 1997 was last Thursday’s Vikings-Saints game, which drew a 17.7 rating and 28 share overnight.

Overnight ratings measure the 55 largest TV markets. Each overnight rating point represents about 735,000 TV homes.