Philadelphia Eagles Continue To Be A Huge Ratings Draw In 2010

I know that a lot of people get frustrated with the constant attention that the NFC East gets by the national networks in their scheduling. But there is a reason why the networks decide to do it: it gets ratings. Actually, you can get even more specific and say the Philadelphia Eagles. CBS's #1 rated game of the season and Fox's #1 rated game of the season both have one common denominator: The Philadelphia Eagles. From PhiladelphiaEagles.com

The Eagles' 26-24 win on Sunday over the Indianapolis Colts drew a 17.1 national rating which was the highest for a CBS regular season game since the Patriots' win over the Steelers in Week 14 of the 2007 season. The CBS late afternoon slate of games, which featured the Eagles-Colts as the marquee matchup, averaged 27.8 million viewers making it the second-most watched television program since the start of the NFL regular season.

Which program was No. 1? FOX's late afternoon package of games for Week 1, which was highlighted by the Eagles and the Packers, drew an average of 28.0 million viewers making it the most watched television program since the kickoff to the season September.

In the Philadelphia market alone, the Eagles-Colts game drew a 35.7 rating and a 54 share, which means that over half of all the television sets in use were tuned in to the game. That rating is 16 percent higher than the Eagles' Week 9 game from just a year ago when they played the Cowboys on Sunday Night Football. The Eagles had five 4 PM games in 2009 and Sunday's game against the Colts generated a rating 14 percent higher than the average of those games last season.

Ah, yes. Remember a year and 3 months ago when nearly half of the fanbase was done with this team and vowed to never watch another Eagles game again? Yeah, those were good times. Like I said when the Eagles first signed Vick, anger boils over. And judging from the increase in television ratings, it appears that whole "how is a convicted dog-fighter going to survive in Philadelphia" story is long gone now.