Just halfway through its eight game schedule, Thursday Night Football is averaging 7.1 million viewers and all of the games played have seen increased viewership from the year before. A lot of that has to do with the increased amount of cable providers picking up the NFL Network in the last year. Last night’s game between Philadelphia and Seattle had an average viewership of 5.9 million people, up 9% from last year’s comparable game between the Eagles and Texans.
In addition, Thursday Night Football won the cable primetime ratings over all competition.
Not only that, NFL.com and the league’s mobile apps saw increased traffic for the game. The NFL 2011 iPad app was showing live cut-ins to the game and the video quality was very good.
Here’s the press release.
AT HALFWAY POINT, NFL NETWORK’S THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL ON RECORD VIEWERSHIP PACE
Last night’s Eagles-Seahawks game on NFLN ranks as day’s No. 1 show on cable with 5.9 million viewers – up 9% from ‘10
NFL Network & NFL Digital Properties set November viewership marksLast night’s Philadelphia Eagles-Seattle Seahawks game on NFL Network was watched by an average of 5.9 million viewers (not including over-the-air stations in Philadelphia and Seattle) – up nine percent from the comparable game last year (Texans-Eagles, 5.4 million) and ranking as Thursday’s most-watched program on cable.
At the midpoint of the Thursday Night Football schedule, NFL Network games are averaging a record 7.1 million viewers, up 24 percent from 2010. Complementary coverage of Thursday Night Football online at NFL.com and via mobile devices is up four percent over this point last year.
In addition, NFL Network and the NFL’s digital media properties posted record months in November.
A total of 38.8 million fans tuned in to NFL Network last month – the most-viewed November in the eight-year history of the network. In addition, NFLN averaged a November-record 899,000 primetime viewers, up 23 percent from last year.
NFL digital media properties drew an audience 32 percent larger than last November with videos viewed jumping 95 percent and a 58 percent spike in total content viewed.
Thursday Night Football continues with the Cleveland Browns visiting the Pittsburgh Steelers next Thursday Dec. 8 at 8:00 PM ET. The Thursday Night Kickoff pregame show begins at 6:00 PM ET. All Thursday Night Football games are available in their entirety on NFL Mobile Only with complementary online coverage via NFL.com/LIVE Thursday Night Football.
That’s it for this post.
