For Week 11 in the National Football League, it’s another instance of games leading the weekly TV ratings. In this case, the late national window Sunday afternoon on CBS split between the Indianapolis Colts-New England Patriots and the San Diego Super Chargers and Denver Broncos was the most watched program for the week ending November 18.
The second most watched program was the Sunday Night Football game between the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers on NBC.
Both windows saw big audiences.
We have the press release from the National Football League.
NFL GAMES RANK AS TV’S TWO MOST-WATCHED SHOWS FOR 10TH TIME IN 11 WEEKS
Games Top Local Ratings in 28 of 30 NFL Markets
NFL games were the two most-watched shows on TV last week (Nov. 12-18) with the CBS national telecast (Indianapolis Colts-New England Patriots and San Diego Chargers-Denver Broncos) topping all sports and entertainment competition with 23.6 million viewers followed by NBC’s Sunday Night Football (Baltimore Ravens-Pittsburgh Steelers) with 18.2 million viewers.
This marks the 11th time in 11 weeks that an NFL game has topped the viewership charts and the 10th time in 11 weeks that NFL games ranked 1-2 in viewership for the week.
For the season, NFL games rank as the 17 most-watched TV shows since Labor Day. Following are the most-watched programs this fall:
Program Viewers 1. NBC Sunday Night Football (Steelers-Broncos), 9/9 27.6 million 2. FOX Sunday National (mostly Giants-Cowboys), 10/28 26.9 million 3. FOX Sunday National (mostly 49ers-Packers), 9/9 26.4 million 4. CBS Sunday National (mostly Broncos-Patriots), 10/7 24.5 million 5. FOX Sunday National (mostly Cowboys-Eagles), 11/11 24.3 million 6. CBS Sunday National (mostly Steelers-Giants), 11/4 24.2 million 7. CBS Sunday National (mostly Texans-Broncos), 9/23 24.0 million 8. NBC Wed. Night Kickoff Game (Cowboys-Giants), 9/5 23.9 million 9. CBS Sunday National (Indy-NE & SD-Den), 11/18 23.6 million 10. CBS Sunday National (mostly Jets-Patriots), 10/21 23.0 million 11. FOX Sunday National (mostly Giants-49ers), 10/14 22.8 million 12. NBC Sunday Night Football (Giants-Eagles), 9/30 22.8 million 13. FOX Sunday National (mostly Saints-Packers), 9/30 22.3 million 14. NBC Sunday Night Football (Cowboys-Falcons), 11/4 21.8 million 15. NBC Sunday Night Football (Lions-49ers), 9/16 21.3 million 16. NBC Sunday Night Football (Patriots-Ravens), 9/23 21.3 million 17. NBC Sunday Night Football (Texans-Bears), 11/11 20.9 million 18. CBS NCIS (Season Premiere), 9/25 20.5 million Source: NFL & The Nielsen Company
Locally, NFL games topped ratings in 28 NFL markets last week. Following is the list of NFL markets where football was the top-rated program for the week of Nov. 12-18:
Week of 11/12-18
HH
HH
RTG
Market Game Date
RTG
SHR
Rank
Pittsburgh Ravens at Steelers 11/18/2012
47.5
66
1
New Orleans Saints at Raiders 11/18/2012
46.4
66
1
Boston Colts at Patriots 11/18/2012
43.1
65
1
Milwaukee Packers at Lions 11/18/2012
42.5
71
1
Baltimore Ravens at Steelers 11/18/2012
39.0
54
1
Denver Chargers at Broncos 11/18/2012
36.9
68
1
Indianapolis Colts at Patriots 11/18/2012
36.7
57
1
Buffalo Dolphins at Bills 11/15/2012
31.1
45
1
Cleveland Browns at Cowboys 11/18/2012
28.9
54
1
Kansas City Bengals at Chiefs 11/18/2012
28.6
52
1
San Diego Chargers at Broncos 11/18/2012
26.8
50
1
Houston Jaguars at Texans 11/18/2012
26.5
53
1
Dallas-Ft. Worth Browns at Cowboys 11/18/2012
26.3
52
1
Cincinnati Bengals at Chiefs 11/18/2012
25.6
47
1
Detroit Packers at Lions 11/18/2012
24.9
48
1
Atlanta Cardinals at Falcons 11/18/2012
24.1
46
1
Charlotte Bucs at Panthers 11/18/2012
23.9
44
1
Washington, DC Eagles at Redskins 11/18/2012
23.3
48
1
Philadelphia Eagles at Redskins 11/18/2012
22.0
43
1
Minneapolis Packers at Lions 11/18/2012
21.0
51
1
Jacksonville Jaguars at Texans 11/18/2012
21.6
35
1
Phoenix Cardinals at Falcons 11/18/2012
18.9
40
1
Nashville Chargers at Broncos 11/18/2012
18.1
26
1
St. Louis Jets at Rams 11/18/2012
18.0
37
1
Tampa Bucs at Panthers 11/18/2012
17.4
35
1
New York Jets at Rams +
bonus coverage11/18/2012
14.7
29
1
Miami Dolphins at Bills 11/15/2012
12.3
19
1
San Fran-Oakland Ravens at Steelers 11/18/2012
10.0
19
1
Source: NFL & The Nielsen Company
And we’re done.
