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NFL Commands Big Audiences, But You Know That By Now

Posted by on Nov 27, 2013 14:30

Two, count ’em, two NFL games saw audiences register over 25 million viewers in Week 12. That means a lot of people were interested in watching football on Sunday.

On Fox, Dallas-New York Giants averaged just under 28 million viewers making it the most-watched program of the week ending on November 24. Then in primetime, the Denver Broncos-New England Patriots game which went into overtime and disturbed sleep patterns in the East and Midwest saw an average audience of 26.5 million.

The NFL says a total of 15 games this season have averaged over 25 million viewers well in advance of last year’s total which was 8 for all of 2012.

Locally, New Orleans grabbed the highest ratings for last Thursday night’s contest between the Saints and the Atlanta Falcons garnering a huge 54.4/72 number. Denver was next for the Sunday Night Football game with a 48.2/71. It’s easy to say New Orleans and Denver are football crazy markets and numbers like those are pure evidence.

Here’s the NFL statement on Week 12.

NFL shieldFIFTEEN NFL GAMES TOP 25 MILLION VIEWERS IN 2013

NFL Games Two Most-Watched Shows of the Week
Games Top Local Ratings in 28 of 30 NFL Markets

Fifteen NFL game telecasts this season have been watched by more than 25 million viewers – nearly doubling the total for the full 2012 season (eight).

NFL games were the two most-watched shows on TV last week (Nov. 18-24) with the FOX national telecast (Dallas Cowboys-New York Giants) topping all sports and entertainment competition with 27.9 million viewers followed by the NBC’s Sunday Night Football (Denver Broncos-New England Patriots) drawing 26.5 million viewers. This marks the 12th time in 12 weeks that an NFL game has topped the viewership charts.

For the season, NFL games rank as the 24 most-watched TV shows since Labor Day. Following are the most-watched programs this fall:

Program Viewers
1. FOX Sunday National (mostly Packers-49ers), 9/8 28.5 million
2. CBS Sunday National (mostly Broncos-Cowboys), 10/6 28.3 million
3. FOX Sunday National (Cowboys-Giants), 11/24 27.9 million
4. FOX Sunday National (mostly Eagles-Broncos), 9/29 27.0 million
5. NBC Sunday Night Football (Chiefs-Broncos), 11/17    26.9 million
6. NBC Sunday Night Football (Broncos-Colts), 10/20 26.9 million
7. FOX Sunday National (mostly 49ers-Saints), 11/17 26.9 million
8. FOX Sunday National (mostly Saints-Patriots), 10/13 26.7 million
9. NBC Sunday Night Football (Broncos-Patriots), 11/24 26.5 million
10. CBS Sunday National (mostly Broncos-Giants), 9/15 26.4 million
11. CBS Sunday National (mostly Colts-49ers), 9/22 25.6 million
12. FOX Sunday National (mostly Redskins-Broncos), 10/27 25.5 million
13. NBC Sunday Night Football (Giants-Cowboys), 9/8    25.4 million
14. CBS Sunday National (mostly Ravens-Steelers & Texans-Chiefs), 10/20 25.3 million
15. NBC Thursday Night Kickoff Game (Ravens-Broncos), 9/5 25.1 million
16. CBS Sunday National (mostly Broncos-Chargers), 11/10 24.1 million
17. CBS Sunday National (mostly Steelers-Patriots), 11/3 24.0 million
18. NBC Sunday Night Football (Redskins-Cowboys), 10/13 22.1 million
19. FOX Sunday Single (mostly Redskins-Packers & Saints-Buccaneers), 9/15 21.9 million
20. NBC Sunday Night Football (Cowboys-Saints), 11/10 21.1 million
21. FOX Sunday Single (mostly Packers-Bengals, Giants-Panthers & Rams-Cowboys), 9/22 20.9 million
22. NBC Sunday Night Football (49ers-Seahawks), 9/15 20.5 million
23. NBC Sunday Night Football (Bears-Steelers), 9/22 20.5 million
24. NBC Sunday Night Football (Patriots-Falcons), 9/29 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. 18-24:

Week of 11/18-24  

 

HH

HH

RTG
Market Game

Date

RTG

SHR

Rank
New Orleans Saints at Falcons** 11/21/2013 54.4 72

1
Denver Broncos at Patriots 11/24/2013 48.2 71

1
Kansas City Chargers at Chiefs 11/24/2013 45.3 72

1
Milwaukee Vikings at Packers 11/24/2013 44.2 73

1
Minneapolis Vikings at Packers 11/24/2013 39.3 72

1
Pittsburgh Steelers at Browns 11/24/2013 38.4 62

1
Charlotte Patriots at Panthers* 11/18/2013 37.6 56

1
Boston Broncos at Patriots 11/24/2013 37.3 59

1
Indianapolis Colts at Cardinals 11/24/2013 34.1 52

1
Dallas Cowboys at Giants 11/24/2013 33.2 53

1
Baltimore Jets at Ravens 11/24/2013 32.1 58

1
Cleveland Steelers at Browns 11/24/2013 30.7 55

1
Detroit Buccaneers at Lions 11/24/2013 29.6 55

1
Chicago Bears at Rams 11/24/2013 28.2 57

1
San Diego Chargers at Chiefs 11/24/2013 24.8 56

1
St. Louis Bears at Rams 11/24/2013 23.7 46

1
Nashville Titans at Raiders 11/24/2013 23.0 36

1
Washington, DC Cowboys at Giants 11/24/2013 22.6 38

1
Tampa Buccaneers at Lions 11/24/2013 22.5 44

1
New York Cowboys at Giants 11/24/2013 22.1 36

1
Seattle Broncos at Patriots 11/24/2013 21.9 35

1
Phoenix Colts at Cardinals 11/24/2013 21.8 40

1
Houston Jaguars at Texans 11/24/2013 21.3 45

1
Philadelphia Cowboys at Giants 11/24/2013 21.0 34

1
Atlanta Saints at Falcons** 11/21/2013 19.9 31

1
San Fran-Oakland Broncos at Patriots 11/24/2013 16.7 30

1
Jacksonville Jaguars at Texans 11/24/2013 16.6 30

1
Miami Panthers at Dolphins 11/24/2013 14.4 34

1

* Local affiliate & ESPN combined
** Local affiliate & NFLN combined
Source: NFL & The Nielsen Company

That’s all.

About Ken Fang

Ken has been covering the sports media in earnest at his own site, Fang's Bites since May 2007 and at Awful Announcing since March 2013. He provides a unique perspective having been an award-winning radio news reporter in Providence and having worked in local television. Fang celebrates the three Boston Red Sox World Championships in the 21st Century, but continues to be a long-suffering Cleveland Browns fan.

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