'Sunday Night Football' on NBC off to best start in its 7-year history

"Sunday Night Football" is No. 1 primetime program of premiere week

NBC's five-game average viewership of 23.3 million is best start in the seven-year history of "Sunday Night Football," and the most-watched start to a season for a primetime package in 16 years (24.0 million for ABC in 1996).

The four-week average household rating of 14.2/23 for five games is also the best start in the seven-year history of "Sunday Night Football," and the best start to a season for a primetime package in 13 years (14.6/25 in 1999 on ABC).

'SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL' THROUGH 4 WEEKS:

GIANTS-EAGLES:

Sunday's game on NBC, in which the Eagles defeated the Giants, 19-17, drew 22.8 million viewers - the first time in NBC's seven-year "Sunday Night Football" history that each of the first five games topped 21 million viewers.

• The 22.8 million for Sunday's game is up 21 percent from last year's week four "SNF" game (18.9 million for Jets-Ravens), is the most-watched week four game in "SNF" history, and the most-watched week four primetime game in 16 years (25.1 million for Dolphins-Colts, 9/23/96 on ABC).

• The household rating of 14.1/22 for Sunday's game is up 23% from last year's Week 4 SNF game (11.5/18 for Jets-Ravens) and is the highest-rated Week 4 primetime game in 15 years (15.0/26 for Steelers-Jaguars, 9/22/97 on ABC).

'SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL' WEEK 4 GAMES:

In the first week of the official primetime television season, "Sunday Night Football" was the No. 1 show among viewers, households and all key adult and male demographics. Additionally, it was the No. 4 show among women 18-34 and No. 5 among women 18-49. This marks the fourth straight weekly win for among viewers, households and all the key adult and male demos.

The Giants-Eagles "Sunday Night Football" broadcast easily won the night facing original network programs. NBC led the night among viewers 2+ in primetime with 18.8 million viewers (7:30 to 11 p.m. ET) topping the 12.3 million for second-place Fox (which was boosted by an NFL overrun) by 54 percent. NBC also beat CBS (10.5 million) by 80 percent and ABC (8.5 million) by 121 percent.

"Sunday Night Football" has won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Live Sports Series each of the past four years.

Top 10 Metered Markets for Giants-Eagles: