Declining NFL ratings have been a recurring story this year, but yesterday’s Indianapolis Colts – Houston Texans Sunday Night Football matchup illustrated just how far they’ve fallen. That game pulled in just a 9.0/15 overnight rating/share, down 38 per cent from the Week Six game a year ago (Colts – Patriots), and the lowest overnight metered-market result for SNF since 2011, as per Deadline Hollywood’s Dominic Patten:

With a 9.0/15 rating in metered-market results, the Houston Texans’ 26-23 overtime over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday was not only a season low for SNF but the worst the NFL powerhouse series has done in nearly five years. Only the October 23, 2011 game — in which the New Orleans Saints smashed the Colts 62-7 — has come in with a lower MM rating (8.2). Unlike last week, last night’s game did not face a Presidential debate on all the other networks. Compared to the previous SNF season low with last week’s Giants-Packers game, last night’s Texans-Colts matchup was down 12% in MM ratings. The October 9 SNF went on to grab a 5.9/16 rating among adults 18-49 with 16.62 million watching — an expected double-digit drop from the week before, all things POTUS considered, especially with two teams playing who lack big national followings and, for the most part, had a lackluster game until the 4th quarter. Even though NBC and the NFL will win Sunday, last night’s ratings tackle comes after weeks of declines for SNF and one week before TWD returns to likely challenge the franchise’s 18-49 demo supremacy much like it successfully has on several Sundays over the years. Some sunshine could come to the NFL and NBC on October 30 when SNF has the Cowboys up against the Philadelphia Eagles – which is certain to attract and retain eyeballs if it doesn’t become a blowout.

Last week’s season-low 10.2 overall overnight MM rating for Giants-Packers looked bad enough, but was understandable given the competition from the presidential debate. This one’s worse, especially considering that there wasn’t that kind of competition. Yes, the Cubs-Dodgers NLCS game drew significant viewers, but that 2015 SNF game also went up against the NLCS (Cubs-Mets), so a 38 per cent drop year over year is still remarkable. Sure, having the Patriots involved is better from a viewership perspective than than having the Texans involved, and sure, this wasn’t a particularly attractive game (until Houston’s fourth-quarter comeback and overtime winner), but that kind of drop for what’s usually the NFL’s most-watched primetime window is remarkable.

Why are the NFL ratings down so much? Well, Variety‘s Oriana Schwindt has an interesting angle on that front:

A note about the continued slippage in NFL ratings (particularly in primetime): The lower ratings appear to be more of a function of people simply watching less of the games. The number of people actually tuning in to the telecasts isn’t declining, overall — but they are watching, on average, five minutes less than they did in 2015. Because the average viewer per minute rating is calculated by dividing the minutes watched by the number of people watching, a decrease in minutes viewed leads to a lower rating. The most likely culprit in the NFL ratings declines, therefore, isn’t the much-talked-about player protests against police brutality and systemic racism, or even the siphoning off of audiences by election coverage. What’s causing people to spend less time with the NFL is boring match-ups, games that feel like slogs, and simple NFL overload. With all the other TV out there, do you really want to spend some of your precious free time watching the Colts lose to the Texans?

That may have played a major role in this instance, especially given the Texans’ early struggles. They trailed 3-0 after the first quarter, 13-3 at the half and 23-9 with three minutes to go. If viewers tuned in early on, they may well have opted to leave for other options, including the NLCS and a Walking Dead special. Regardless of what happened here, though, it’s not great news for the NFL and NBC. They still won the night, but seeing a close (albeit not interesting for much of the contest) Sunday Night Football game post a five-year ratings low is a big loss.