To say the NFL does well every week is like saying we all need to breathe oxygen. The NFL topped the ratings in 28 local markets.
Here’s the official statement from the National Football League.
NFL GAMES TOP TV VIEWERSHIP IN “PREMIERE WEEK”
NFL Games Two Most-Watched Shows of the Week
Games Top Local Ratings in 28 of 30 NFL MarketsNFL telecasts ranked 1-2 in viewership among all television programs during last week’s “premiere week” debuts of network primetime programming.
FOX national telecast (mostly Eagles-Broncos) topped the charts for the week (Sept. 23-29) with 26.7 million average viewers followed by Patriots-Falcons on NBC’s Sunday Night Football drawing 20.5 million viewers. The top non-NFL program was CBS’ The Big Bang Theory which averaged 20.4 million viewers for its season premiere.
Since Labor Day, NFL game telecasts rank as the nine most-watched shows on television and are the only programs along with the season premieres of CBS’ The Big Bang Theory and NCIS (20.0 million) to draw at least 20 million viewers.
Locally during premiere week, NFL games topped the ratings in 28 NFL markets:
Program # of NFL Markets Ranked #1
NFL Football 28
College Football 2
Following is the list of the NFL markets where NFL games were the top-rated program for the week of Sept. 23-29:
Week of 9/23–9/29
HH
HH
RTG
Market Game Date
RTG
SHR
Rank
Denver Raiders at Broncos* 09/23/2013 44.4 65 1
Kansas City Giants at Chiefs 09/29/2013 39.3 72 1
Seattle Seahawks at Texans 09/29/2013 36.1 68 1
Boston Patriots at Falcons 09/29/2013 34.5 56 1
Indianapolis Colts at Jaguars 09/29/2013 34.0 57 1
Buffalo Ravens at Bills 09/29/2013 33.7 64 1
Minneapolis Steelers at Vikings 09/29/2013 33.2 67 1
Detroit Bears at Lions 09/29/2013 32.3 56 1
Pittsburgh Steelers at Vikings 09/29/2013 31.0 59 1
Baltimore Ravens at Bills 09/29/2013 30.5 58 1
Chicago Bears at Lions 09/29/2013 30.4 61 1
Cincinnati Bengals at Browns 09/29/2013 29.2 51 1
Washington, DC Redskins at Raiders 09/29/2013 29.0 51 1
Nashville Jets at Titans 09/29/2013 28.9 44 1
Cleveland Bengals at Browns 09/29/2013 27.6 56 1
San Diego Cowboys at Chargers 09/29/2013 27.5 55 1
Houston Seahawks at Texans 09/29/2013 27.3 55 1
Dallas Cowboys at Chargers 09/29/2013 26.8 48 1
Philadelphia Eagles at Broncos 09/29/2013 26.2 44 1
Atlanta Patriots at Falcons 09/29/2013 25.5 40 1
Tampa Cardinals at Buccaneers 09/29/2013 20.5 40 1
Phoenix Cardinals at Buccaneers 09/29/2013 19.3 40 1
San Fran-Oakland 49ers at Rams** 09/26/2013 18.7 39 1
St. Louis 49ers at Rams** 09/26/2013 16.6 28 1
Jacksonville Colts at Jaguars 09/29/2013 16.4 33 1
New York Giants at Chiefs 09/29/2013 15.2 35 1
Charlotte Patriots at Falcons 09/29/2013 15.0 26 1
Miami Eagles at Broncos 09/29/2013 11.1 21 1
* Local affiliate & ESPN combined
** Local affiliate & NFLN combined
Source: NFL & The Nielsen Company
There you have it.
