We have the final numbers from the Thursday night NFL season opener that saw Denver laying a 40 burger on the defending Super Bowl Champions Baltimore Ravens.
NBC saw a 5% increase in viewership for Thursday’s season as compared to last year which was played on a Wednesday due to a conflict with the Democratic National Convention. Overall, an estimated 25.1 million people watched the game as opposed to 23.9 million for Dallas-New York Giants in 2012. Thursday night’s game becomes the third most-watched season opener since the NFL began playing it on a weeknight in 2002.
The final rating for the game resulted in a 14.9 with a 26 share. That’s up from last year’s 14.7/23 for Cowboys-Giants. And the 33 minute weather delay at the beginning of the game definitely helped the numbers.
As for local markets, Denver and Baltimore led the nation as expected. Others in the top five include New Orleans, Indianapolis and Nashville. NBC has to happy with these numbers.
25.1 MILLION WATCH “NFL KICKOFF” ON NBC; 3RD MOST-WATCHED “NFL KICKOFF” GAME IN 12-YEAR HISTORY
Ravens-Broncos Viewership Up 5% From ’12 Opener
Game Dominates Primetime Competition – Doubling All Other Broadcast Nets Combined in Viewership and Adult 18-49 Rating
More Than 20 Million Live Stream Minutes Consumed Through NBC Sports Live ExtraSTAMFORD, Conn. – September 6, 2013 – Despite a 33-minute weather delay that pushed kickoff past 9 p.m. ET, Thursday night’s ‘NFL Kickoff’ on NBC was watched by 25.1 million viewers — up 5% from last year’s opening-game and ranking as the third-most watched “NFL Kickoff” game in the 12-year history of the event, according to official national data released Friday by The Nielsen Company.
The AFC Divisional Playoff rematch, highlighted by Broncos QB Peyton Manning’s NFL record-tying performance for most touchdown passes in a game (seven) as Denver handily defeated the Super Bowl-champion Baltimore Ravens 49-27, aired from 9:08 PM-12:25 AM ET following the weather delay in Denver.
The Broncos’ 22-point win was the second-largest victory margin among NBC’s “NFL Kickoff” games, trailing only the Manning-led Indianapolis Colts’ 41-10 victory over New Orleans in 2007.
Thursday night’s 25.1 million average viewership was up 5% over last year’s “NFL Kickoff” game (23.9 million for Cowboys-Giants), and ranks as the third-most watched “NFL Kickoff” game, trailing only the 2011 Saints-Packers thriller between the two previous Super Bowl winners (27.1 million), and the 2010 opener (Vikings-Saints, 27.5 million) featuring an NFC Championship Game rematch, as Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings visited the then-defending Super Bowl-champion New Orleans Saints.
Thursday night’s game had a national household rating of 14.9/26, the third-highest rated NFL Kickoff game behind 2010 (16.5/28) and 2011 (16.0/26). The highest-rated half hour was 10:00-10:30 PM ET with a 16.9/27.
DIGITAL: NBC Sports Live Extra’s live stream of Thursday night’s NFL Kickoff generated record-setting digital numbers. Fans consumed nearly 20.5 million minutes, setting a new NBC Sports Live Extra record and making it the highest-trafficked non-Olympic, non-Super Bowl live stream in NBC Sports Digital history.
The 20.5 million minutes shatters the previous record for an NFL game on NBC of 10.6 million minutes, set last season for the Week 15 game (49ers vs. Patriots). Fans were engaged as they consumed 49.4 minutes per visit.
NBC DOMINATES PRIMETIME: The NFL game on NBC more than doubled the night’s primetime averages of ABC, CBS and FOX combined, according to official national averages for those networks (22.8 million P2+ for NBC vs. 11.2 million combined on ABC, CBS, and FOX). In addition, in the Adult 18-49 demo, Ravens-Broncos on NBC nearly tripled the night’s primetime averages of ABC, CBS and FOX combined (9.0 A18-49 rating for NBC vs. 3.1 A18-49 combined on ABC, CBS, and FOX). NBC’s 9.0 in the Adult 18-49 demo is the top primetime average for any network on a Thursday night since August 2, 2012 during NBC’s coverage of the 2012 London Olympics.
NFL KICKOFF VIEWERSHIP:
(All Games on Thursday Night Except for 2012)
2013 NBC 25.1 million (Denver 49 – Baltimore 27) 2012 NBC 23.9 million (Dallas 24 – NY Giants 17)** 2011 NBC 27.1 million (Green Bay 42 – New Orleans 34) 2010 NBC 27.5 million (New Orleans 14 – Minnesota 9) 2009 NBC 20.9 million (Pittsburgh 13 – Tennessee 10) 2008 NBC 13.5 million (NY Giants 16 – Washington 7)* 2007 NBC 17.8 million (Indianapolis 41 – New Orleans 10) 2006 NBC 19.2 million (Pittsburgh 28 – Miami 17) 2005 ABC 18.0 million (New England 30 – Oakland 20) 2004 ABC 16.9 million (New England 27 – Indianapolis 24) 2003 ABC 19.1 million (Washington 16 – NY Jets 13) 2002 ESPN 10.8 million (San Francisco 16 – NY Giants 13) ** Wednesday Night Game (First Wednesday NFL game since 1948)
* Early start due to Republican National ConventionTOP METERED MARKETS FOR RAVENS-BRONCOS:
1. Denver 43.9/70 2. Baltimore 37.6/61 3. New Orleans 25.1/37 4. Indianapolis 24.9/44 5. Nashville 22.6/36 6. Albuquerque 21.7/35 7. Washington, D.C. 21.4/43 8. Richmond 20.6/34 9. Sacramento 20.2/35 10. Las Vegas 19.7/32
That is all.
