Thursday Night Football Sees Highest Viewership Ever

Thanks to an increased audience thanks to agreements with many major cable providers (except for Cablevision and Time Warner, I know), NFL Network saw its highest viewership ever for Thursday Night Football. The eight game package saw an average viewership of 6.2 million. That’s up 8% from the previous year which saw 5.4 million viewers. Those numbers do not include the over the air viewership.

NFL Network’s last-ever Thanksgiving Night game, San Francisco at Baltimore became the most-watched Turkey holiday program ever with an average viewership of 10.7 million.

The last Thursday Night Football game of the season between the Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts saw an average viewership of 4.6 million people which was the most watched program on cable for December 23.

And we have the official press release from the National Football League and the NFL Network for you to peruse.

RECORD VIEWERSHIP FOR NFL NETWORK’S
THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL
IN 2011

Games average 6.2 million viewers – up 8 percent from ’10;
TNF tops other sports’ playoffs on cable
Record-setting pregame & postgame shows jump 33 percent
Tomorrow at 7:00 PM ET
: Exclusive announcement of Pro Bowl teams on NFL Network & NFL.com

NFL Network’s Thursday Night Football averaged a record 6.2 million viewers this season (not including over-the-air stations) – up eight percent from the previous mark set last season (5.7 million viewers). TNF has doubled viewership from its inaugural season five years ago (3.1 million viewers in 2006).

NFL Network’s 6.2 million average viewers for Thursday Night Football topped by 15 percent the 5.4 million average for the 2011 NBA Playoffs on ESPN and TNT and by 35 percent the 4.6 million average for the 2011 MLB Playoffs on TBS.

NFL Network’s TNF pregame and postgame shows also posted large increases in setting viewership marks this season. The Thursday Night Kickoff pregame averaged a record 751,000 viewers – a 33 percent jump over last season’s previous high. The Postgame averaged 2.3 million viewers – up 33 percent from the record-setting 2010 average.

Complementary Thursday Night Football coverage online and via mobile devices averaged nearly 450,000 unique viewers per game – tops among all football streaming this fall. In addition, video streams viewed increased six percent over 2010.

NFL Network’s Houston Texans-Indianapolis Colts season finale last Thursday night was watched by an average of 4.6 million viewers (not including over-the-air stations in Houston and Indianapolis) – topping all programming on cable for the day.

In addition to the season viewership record, NFL Network’s Thanksgiving night Thursday Night Football game (San Francisco at Baltimore) is the most-watched cable program in Thanksgiving history and the most-watched game in the eight-year history of NFLN with an average of 10.7 million viewers.

Tomorrow night at 7:00 PM ET, NFL Network and NFL.com exclusively announce the AFC and NFC Pro Bowl squads on the NFL Total Access 2012 Pro Bowl Selection Show featuring analysis, debate and player interviews.

That’s all for now.

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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