There was no post-Thanksgiving hangover for the NFL following a record-breaking Turkey Day a week and a half ago.
The Bills-Patriots Thursday Night Football matchup on Prime Video averaged 9.971 million viewers, with no comparable game last week and down from last year on Fox and NFL Network (Cowboys-Saints, 16.69 million).
Fox had the singleheader this week, and averaged a whopping 19.170 million viewers for the six-game window (Titans-Eagles, Dolphins-49ers, etc). That’s up from both last week on CBS (five games highlighted by Bengals-Titans, 13.719 million) and last year on Fox (Washington-Raiders, etc, 13.82 million).
CBS had the doubleheader, and averaged 13.694 million viewers for the early half (four games headlined by Jets-Vikings). That’s about even with last week on Fox (Bucs-Browns, etc, 13.719 million) and up from last year on CBS (Chargers-Bengals, etc, 12.75 million). The late half, with Chiefs-Bengals going to nearly the entire country, averaged 23.407 million viewers. That’s about even with last week on Fox (Rams-Chiefs, 23.346 million), and up from last year on CBS (Ravens-Steelers, 21.11 million).
NBC’s Sunday Night Football broadcast of Colts-Cowboys averaged 18.132 million viewers, down from last week (Packers-Eagles, 19.573 million) and up from last year (Broncos-Chiefs, 17.51 million).
ESPN’s Monday Night Football broadcast of Saints-Bucs averaged 11.273 million viewers between ESPN and ESPN2, up from last week (Steelers-Colts, 10.882 million without a ManningCast) and down from last year (Patriots-Bills, 14.91 million).
This week, Prime Video has an underwhelming Raiders-Rams matchup on Thursday Night Football. Fox has the doubleheader, with Bucs-49ers as the national game of the week. Jets-Bills on CBS and Eagles-Giants on Fox are the best games in the early window. In primetime, NBC had Dolphins-Chargers flexed into Sunday Night Football at the expense of Chiefs-Broncos, and ESPN has Patriots-Cardinals on Monday Night Football.
[Data via ShowBuzz Daily, Sports Media Watch]
About Joe Lucia
I hate your favorite team. I also sort of hate most of my favorite teams.