The NFL ended the 2023 regular season the same way it started: with impressive viewership across most networks.
Week 18 began on Saturday with a doubleheader airing across ABC, ESPN, and ESPN Deportes. Somewhat incredibly, the audience stayed consistently strong across both games. Steelers-Ravens, which began at 4:30 p.m. ET, averaged 19.78 million viewers. In the following window, starting at 8:15 p.m. ET, Texans-Colts retained nearly all of that audience, averaging 19.70 million viewers. Both windows were up from the corresponding game a year ago (Chiefs-Raiders early, 17.76 million, and Titans-Jaguars late, 19.00 million).
On Sunday, both CBS and Fox aired doubleheaders. The early window, with each network airing three games, was something of a dud (comparatively speaking). The CBS window averaged 11.78 million viewers (mostly Jaguars-Titans and Falcons-Saints), while the Fox window averaged 11.30 million viewers (mostly Vikings-Lions). Together, the 1 p.m. ET window averaged 23.07 million viewers, a 28% decline from last year’s early window (32.15 million).
It was a different story later in the day. Fox’s late window (mostly Cowboys-Commanders) averaged 21.73 million viewers, and the CBS late window (mostly Bears-Packers) averaged 21.00 million viewers. Cumulatively, the window averaged 42.73 million viewers between the two networks, an increase of 25% from last year (34.20 million).
Combined, Fox averaged 16.52 million viewers in Week 18, and CBS averaged 16.39 million. While one window was down and one was up compared to last year, the full block of afternoon games averaged 32.90 million viewers, down a tick from last year’s mark of 33.18 million.
In primetime, with both teams having clinched a playoff berth due to the Jaguars’ loss earlier in the day, Bills-Dolphins didn’t pull as strong a number as expected for NBC’s Sunday Night Football. The game averaged 21.18 million viewers, down 6% from Lions-Packers a year ago.
Ultimately, for the NFL, it was a strong finish to a 2023 season that saw numerous networks hit new or multi-year highs in viewership. Heading into the Playoffs, things are looking up.
[Data via Sports Media Watch]
