TV Ratings: Packers-Saints Season Opener Scores for NBC

9:47 AM PDT 9/9/2011 by Philiana Ng

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The NBC telecast was the second-highest rated regular primetime game in 13 years.

Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

Thursday marked the beginning of the official NFL football season, and it proved to be a winner for NBC in the ratings.

The matchup between the Green Bay Packers and the New Orleans Saints was the second-highest rated regular season primetime game in 13 years and was the second-highest rated season opener to date. For NBC, the Packers victory ranked as the second highest telecast for the network.

The game delivered a 17.2 overnight rating, the highest on any network since the Denver Broncos-Miami Dolphins matchup on Dec. 21, 1998, which drew a 17.4. The Packers-Saints game peaked right before halftime with an 18.8.

CBS' Big Brother (6.5 million total viewers, 2.4) dipped 4 percent, with the network placing second in the ad-coveted demo (1.7) after NBC. CBS aired a fall preview (5.8 million, 1.6) following a Big Bang Theory repeat, that improved 14 percent from last year's telecast.

ABC's two-hour season finale of Rookie Blue (4.9 million, 1.1) rose 9 percent from last week, with the network snagging the third spot in the demo with a 1.2 average.