Week 16 of the 2023 NFL season saw a new most-watched non-Thanksgiving game this season and a new clubhouse leader for an overall package on the season.
Fox’s broadcast of the Miami Dolphins’ last-second win over the Dallas Cowboys averaged 31.518 million viewers, good for the season’s most-watched non-Thanksgiving game.
The holiday celebrations continue as @NFLonFOX unwraps its best performance for AMERICA'S GAME OF THE WEEK since 1995. 🥳
With an average of 31,518,000 viewers on Sunday, AMERICA'S GAME OF THE WEEK currently ranks as the most-watched program in all of television. pic.twitter.com/rJX5HrGJ3B
— FOX Sports PR (@FOXSportsPR) December 27, 2023
The previous most-watched non-Thanksgiving game of the season came in Week 12 for the Eagles-Bills game on CBS, which averaged 30.90 million viewers.
Additionally, this is Fox’s most-watched America’s Game of the Week since 1995.
The strong audience for Cowboys-Dolphins has also propelled Fox’s America’s Game of the Week package to an average of 24.930 million viewers, the NFL’s most-watched package of the season (with two weeks remaining) and a 2% increase from last season. The national CBS window slightly trails Fox’s national window, averaging 24.85 million viewers.
NBC aired Sunday Night Football on Saturday afternoon, averaging 15.4 million viewers for the Steelers’ win over the Bengals.
On Monday, Christmas Day, both CBS and ABC drew strong audiences for their games. Paramount averaged 29.171 million viewers across CBS and Nickelodeon for the Raiders’ win over the Chiefs, while Disney averaged 27.2 million viewers across ABC, ESPN Deportes, and ESPN+ for the Ravens’ win over the 49ers on Monday Night Football.
Last Thursday, Prime Video’s broadcast of Rams-Saints on Thursday Night Football averaged 10.20 million viewers, a 22% increase from last season. After consistent double-digit increases compared to last year, Week 15 saw the Amazon package decline for the first time all year. With one game left this season, TNF is averaging 11.97 million viewers, an increase of 25% from the debut 2022 season.
In Week 17, Amazon starts the week with Browns-Jets on TNF. CBS has the doubleheader, highlighted by Dolphins-Ravens early and Bengals-Chiefs late. Fox’s six-game singleheader window isn’t great, headlined by Saints-Bucs at 1 p.m. In primetime, ABC and ESPN will air their Monday Night Football matchup of Lions-Cowboys on Saturday night. NBC concludes Week 17 with Packers-Vikings on Sunday Night Football.
