The NFL Is Enjoying Its Most Watched Season Thus Far

Through four weeks of the new regular season, the National Football League continues to rake in the ratings. A total of 150 million people have watched the NFL topping the previous mark through four weeks of 146.1 million. All four network TV partners are seeing huge ratings increases and for Week 4, 24 markets reported that the NFL was the most watched program locally. That’s amazing and totally staggering for the league.

Here’s the latest press release from the NFL.

MOST-WATCHED NFL SEASON IN HISTORY THROUGH FOUR WEEKS

More than 150 Million Fans Tune In

Viewership Doubles New Broadcast Primetime Season

Milestones for All Partner Networks

More fans are watching NFL games on television through the season’s first four weeks than ever before, according to information provided by The Nielsen Company.

More than 150 million fans* have tuned in to at least part of an NFL game this season – topping 146.1 million viewers at this point last year. The average NFL game telecast (including broadcast and cable) has drawn 18.9 million viewers* – double the average primetime viewership (9.2 million) for the big four broadcast networks in the new television season.

In addition, a record nine game telecasts have topped the 20-million viewer mark. Other than NFL games, only two programs have drawn 20 million viewers this fall.

Locally, NFL games topped the ratings 93 percent of the time – a record through four weeks. Half of the NFL clubs (16 of 32) have posted at least a 10 percent increase in local ratings compared to 2009.

NFL telecasts have been TV’s most-watched program of the week in all four weeks of the season, with this week’s FOX national game (mostly Redskins-Eagles) drawing 23.1 million viewers.

Viewership for all four network partners is up through four weeks. Following is a look at the four-week success for each network:

CBS

·         Most-watched start ever for CBS AFC package

·         Most-watched CBS September telecast on record (CBS national, mostly Patriots-Jets, 9/19)

ESPN

·         Most-watched start ever for ESPN primetime package

·         Most-watched cable show of the year (Packers-Bears, 9/27) & Monday Night Football accounts for five most-watched cable programs this fall

FOX

·         Most-watched start ever for FOX

·         Most-watched Sunday Week 1 telecast on record (Fox national, mostly Packers-Eagles, 9/12)

NBC

·         Most-watched start ever for Sunday Night Football

·         Most-watched Kickoff Game ever (Vikings-Saints, 9/9) & Sunday night game ever (Cowboys-Redskins, 9/12)

(*estimates pending final viewership numbers for Week 4 CBS single and Fox regional telecasts due Thursday)

Following is the list of 24 NFL markets where football was the top-rated program for the week of Sept. 27-Oct. 3:

Week of 9/27–10/3			HH	HH	RTG
Market	Game	Date	RTG	SHR	Rank
Milwaukee	Packers at Bears	9/27/10	55.0	72	1
Pittsburgh	Ravens at Steelers	10/3/10	47.5	73	1
New Orleans	Panthers at Saints	10/3/10	43.5	68	1
Chicago	Bears at Giants	10/3/10	39.3	54	1
Baltimore	Ravens at Steelers	10/3/10	36.1	67	1
Philadelphia	Redskins at Eagles	10/3/10	35.7	55	1
Indianapolis	Colts at Jaguars	10/3/10	35.0	56	1
Washington, DC	Redskins at Eagles	10/3/10	33.0	56	1
Buffalo	Jets at Bills	10/3/10	32.5	55	1
Cincinnati	Bengals at Browns	10/3/10	32.4	58	1
Jacksonville	Colts at Jaguars	10/3/10	30.9	51	1
Cleveland	Bengals at Browns	10/3/10	29.8	54	1
Nashville	Broncos at Titans	10/3/10	29.6	52	1
Denver	Broncos at Titans	10/3/10	25.8	56	1
Charlotte	Panthers at Saints	10/3/10	23.6	47	1
St. Louis	Seahawks at Rams	10/3/10	23.5	47	1
Houston	Texans at Raiders	10/3/10	23.1	44	1
Phoenix	Cardinals at Chargers	10/3/10	21.8	40	1
Seattle	Seahawks at Rams	10/3/10	21.1	46	1
Atlanta	49ers at Falcons	10/3/10	20.1	39	1
Dallas	Redskins at Eagles	10/3/10	17.8	36	1
San Fran-Oakland	49ers at Falcons	10/3/10	16.7	46	1
Minneapolis	Packers at Bears	9/27/10	16.4	25	1
San Diego	Packers at Bears	9/27/10	15.6	26	1

           

Source: NFL & The Nielsen Company

More releases coming up.