'Sunday Night Footbal' Hall of Fame Game Scores Best NFL Preseason Overnight in Years

Last night's "Sunday Night Football" Hall of Fame preseason game delivered the best overnight rating for any NFL preseason game on any network in six years. The 7.6 overnight rating and 13 share (8:15-11 p.m. ET) for the Dallas Cowboys-Cincinnati Bengals preseason game was the best since the 8.2/13 for the Titans-Cowboys preseason game on August 30, 2004 on ABC.

The overnight rating was the best for a Hall of Fame Game in six years (Denver-Washington, 7.7/12 on Aug. 9, 2004), and was up 31 percent over last year's Buffalo-Tennessee game (5.8/10) and up 41 percent over the Hall of Fame Game in 2008 (Indianapolis-Washington, 5.4/9).

"Sunday Night Football" was the No. 1 telecast of the night in the metered markets and dominated its time period, nearly doubling second-place CBS in the time slot (7.6 vs. 4.0). NBC averaged a 6.4/11 from 7-11 p.m. ET, representing the network's highest Sunday primetime average in the metered markets since the Closing Ceremony of the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games.

The broadcast, which featured Bengals WR Terrell Owens facing his old team the Dallas Cowboys, for the first time peaked at an 8.5/15 from 8:30-9 p.m. ET. The Cowboys won the game 16-7.

Top 10 Metered Markets:
1. Cincinnati, 25.6/40
2. Dallas, 22.4/38
3. Dayton, 17.0/26
4. San Antonio, 16.6/25
T5. Austin, 14.3/24
T5. New Orleans, 14.3/20
7. Columbus, 13.7/22
8. Oklahoma City, 12.5/19
9. Nashville, 11.9/17
10. Houston, 11.4/19