The Vikings' 14-9 loss to New Orleans in the NFL's regular-season opener on Thursday night provided the latest example of the league's dominance when it comes to popularity.

The game had an overnight rating of 17.7 with a 28 share on NBC, making it the highest-rated prime-time game in the regular season since Dec. 15, 1997 when the Broncos-49ers game had a 19.3 rating and 30 share.

It will come as no surprise that the Twin Cities helped NBC to that rating. The game had a 43.8 rating and 64 share on KARE, placing Minneapolis-St. Paul second among the 50-plus markets that are used to determine overnight figures. The largest quarter-hour figure in this market came from 10 to 10:15 p.m. as the rating hit a 46.7.

The New Orleans market was No. 1 with an eye-popping 60 rating and 78 share. And just in case if you're wondering if Packers fans still want to see Brett Favre succeed or fail, the answer is yes. The Milwaukee market was No. 3 with a 33.3 rating and a 52 share.

The rating reflects the percentage of the total population of televisions turned to a program; share is the percentage of TV that are actually in use.