Dallas Cowboys tight end Jake Ferguson (87) and Dallas Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb (88) Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images
By Drew Lerner on

As expected, CBS, Fox, and NBC all set new high watermarks during their respective Thanksgiving NFL games last Thursday.

The headline belongs to CBS, which aired a marquee game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Dallas Cowboys during the late-afternoon window on Thanksgiving, traditionally the most-watched regular season NFL game of the season. CBS averaged a stunning 57.2 million viewers for the Cowboys’ 31-28 win over the Chiefs, solidifying its spot as the most-watched regular season game in NFL history. Thursday’s game well eclipsed the previous record, 42 million viewers for a Giants-Cowboys game in the same Thanksgiving day window on Fox three years ago.

It is no surprise that CBS reached such a high mark. For one, the NFL scheduled its two most popular teams from a viewership standpoint for the most-watched window of the year. On top of that, CBS was the beneficiary of Nielsen’s new Big Data + Panel methodology and expanded out-of-home viewing measurements, both of which have proven to increase viewership figures for live sporting events since being implemented earlier this year.

Given the changes, it is hard to compare the true magnitude of Thursday’s audience to previous years. Out-of-home viewing can have an especially outsized impact during holidays like Thanksgiving, when many people are gathered outside of their usual homes.

The early-afternoon game on Fox, which featured its own marquee matchup between the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions, provided another data point to suggest Nielsen’s changes played a role in the record-setting numbers. The Packers’ win averaged 47.7 million viewers across Fox and Tubi, which itself would’ve beaten the previous regular season record by five million viewers despite airing in the less-favorable window. As such, it was Fox’s most-watched regular season game on record and the most-watched early Thanksgiving day game in history.

The NFL’s historic day didn’t stop there. NBC’s Thanksgiving primetime game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens also set a record. The Bengals’ win averaged 28.4 million viewers across NBC, Peacock, and Telemundo, making it the most-watched Thanksgiving night game in NFL history.

To be sure, these records cannot all be attributed to Nielsen changes (though they certainly played a large part). The NFL was intentional about scheduling high-quality games this Thanksgiving. In recent years, the league has gone about Thanksgiving a bit differently, often scheduling lower-quality games knowing that people will tune in regardless.

The year-over-year percentage increases seem to indicate that the game quality made a difference this season. Both afternoon games were close finishes featuring teams in the playoff hunt. The Cowboys game saw a 47% jump over last year’s contest against the Giants, which featured two backup quarterbacks and hit a four-year low of 38.5 million viewers. The Lions game saw a 28% increase over its record-setting audience against the Bears last year (37.4 million viewers).

Generally speaking, Nielsen’s methodological changes are estimated to give live sports audiences between a 5-15% boost versus prior years with the old methodology. That would seem to indicate the quality of Thursday’s games also had a positive impact. However, the methodological boost could exceed that generally agreed upon range during holidays, when out-of-home viewing is at its highest.

Nevertheless, it’s a good story to tell for the league and its broadcast partners. And going forward, these games will be tough to beat on future Thanksgivings, barring any more methodological shifts from Nielsen.

About Drew Lerner

Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.

View all posts by Drew Lerner