The Week 15 schedule had a cluster of significant games at 4:25 p.m. ET. At the heart of the window was a showdown between CBS and Fox.
In one corner, CBS had Bills-Lions. In the other, Fox had Steelers-Eagles.
And the end result was a TKO.
Via SportsMediaWatch.com, 23.3 million watched Bills-Lions and 16.4 million took in Steelers-Eagles. It works out to a combined national audience of 39.6 million for the window.
The two networks compete in the biggest window of the day only twice per year. Before the season expanded from 16 games, it happened in Week 17. After the 17th game was added, a second joint doubleheader weekend arrived.
Initially, it happened in Week 1. It now occurs later in the season.
One of those games could have dominated the 1:00 p.m. ET window, or it could have been moved to prime time. In the end, it made for a strange weekend, with a weak early Sunday window and a pair of Monday night games featuring a playoff contender facing a team that already had been eliminated from postseason contention.
