FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The Patriots improved their record to 2-0 on Thursday night with a hard-fought 13-10 win over the New York Jets in their home opener at Gillette Stadium. Despite competition from primetime television with an 8:25 p.m. scheduled kickoff, viewers in the Boston area once again tuned into the Patriots victory in droves, as coverage of the game saw an 11 percent increase in average household rating from the Patriots season opener against the Buffalo Bills on Sept. 9.
The Patriots-Bills game, which drew an average household rating of 30.8, came in as the second-most watched 1 p.m. season opener in Patriots history since 2001. Thursday night's telecast easily topped those numbers, drawing a combined average household rating of 34.2 for NFL Network's national coverage and local coverage from WCVB-Channel 5 (Boston) and WMUR-Channel 9 (New Hampshire).
The Patriots home opener was especially popular in the Boston market on WCVB's local telecast, which garnered a 26.8 average household rating. This number marked a 74 percent ratings increase from the most-watched Patriots game of the 2013 preseason against the Detroit Lions on Aug. 22 that delivered an average household rating of 15.4.
The Patriots are back at Gillette Stadium next Sunday when they take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in their second straight home game at 1 p.m. FOX will have the broadcasting duties with WFXT-Channel 25 handling the local telecast in the Boston area.
PATRIOTS 2013 RATINGS IN BOSTON TV MARKET
|
Date |
Opp. |
Network(Boston TV) |
HH Rating | |
|
9/12 |
vs. NYJ |
NFLN (WCVB) |
34.2 | |
|
9/9 |
at BUF |
CBS (WBZ) |
30.8 | |
|
8/30 |
vs. NYG |
CBS (WBZ) |
14.6 | |
|
8/22 |
at DET |
CBS (WBZ) |
15.4 | |
|
8/16 |
vs. TB |
FOX (WFXT) |
14.6 | |
|
8/9 |
at PHI |
CBS (WBZ) |
14.4 | |
