No doubt helped by the addition of Brett Favre, the Vikings television ratings in the Twin Cities market are up 32 percent from a year ago. That is the second-biggest percentage jump in the NFL to the Arizona Cardinals, whose ratings have risen 48 percent in that market.

Through four games, the Vikings are averaging a 35.8 rating and 66 share in Minneapolis-St. Paul, up from 27.1/54 at this point last year. Overall, NFL games are drawing their highest average viewership since 1989. The average game is drawing 17.4 million viewers. That's up 14 percent in viewership from last year at this point.