Cowboys outdraw Texans in Houston TV ratings

These Texans fans at NRG Stadium were left disappointed Sunday. Meanwhile, a lot of fans didn't bother to tune into the Fox broadcast, as it ranked behind NBC's Cowboys-Saints telecast. These Texans fans at NRG Stadium were left disappointed Sunday. Meanwhile, a lot of fans didn't bother to tune into the Fox broadcast, as it ranked behind NBC's Cowboys-Saints telecast. Photo: Karen Warren/Staff Photographer Photo: Karen Warren/Staff Photographer Image 1 of / 152 Caption Close Cowboys outdraw Texans in Houston TV ratings 1 / 152 Back to Gallery

Not only were the Texans losers on the field Sunday, they finished second-best in the day’s television ratings

The Texans’ loss to the Panthers produced an 18.7 Nielsen rating on KRIV (Channel 26), meaning it was viewed by about 436,000 of the area’s 2.33 million television households on average. The Cowboys-Saints game Sunday night turned in a 19.8 rating on KPRC (Channel 2) with an average audience of about 461,000 households.

Channel 26's audience undoubtedly was affected by Dish Network having dropped Fox Broadcasting's owned-and-operated stations last week as part of a retransmission rate dispute. The game also aired opposite the final Astros regular-season game, which began at 2 p.m. and drew a 5.0 Nielsen rating, and both the Cowboys and Saints also have strong regional audiences in Houston.

Still, it’s unusual for an NFL team’s game not to be the highest-ranked program of the day in its local market.