The Saints on New Orleans TV rate as America’s top hit show

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - What is America’s number one hit television program today? Arguably, the New Orleans Saints games on sets across the New Orleans television market.

More than one-third of sets tuned into the four preseason games this year, according to numbers from the Nielsen Company and the National Football League.

A rating point is defined as one percent of all the houses in a television market. In New Orleans, each point represents roughly 6,240 households.

New Orleans Saints games in the home market averaged a 34.5 rating, according to Nielsen, far outstripping the roughly one-quarter of homes that watched in both Pittsburgh and Kansas City.

The Chargers, who moved from San Diego, now reside up the freeway in Los Angeles, the nation’s number two media market in size.

However, the Chargers drew a comparatively miniscule 2.8 rating, dead last among the league’s 32 teams.

The Saints even outdrew the Rams in total viewers during the preseason, roughly 215,000 households on average to 176,000 for the Rams in the L.A. market. The Saints rank 13th in the total number of viewers, an impressive number for a team hailing from market 50.

Giants games in New York, the nation’s largest market, drew only 42,000 more households than the Saints, according to Nielsen, and Jets games barely 12,000 more.

It’s important to note viewership is not measured in bars, restaurants or other venues away from home.

The Saints also outperform their counterparts in the other NFL South cities, where the games averaged under 140,000 total households.

Seattle, the nation’s 13th largest market, drew the most total viewers in preseason with an average of 400,639 homes tuning in to watch Seahawks games.

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