NFL Preseason: 9.8 Million Watch NBC’s Panthers/Jets

Posted by | 08/28/2012 at 9:06 pm

Though the numbers were not record-setting, Sunday’s NFL preseason game on NBC attracted strong numbers.

Sunday Night Football logoThe Panthers/Jets “Sunday Night Football” NFL preseason game drew a 6.2 final rating and 9.819 million viewers on NBC Sunday night — up 10% in ratings and 6% in viewership from Saints/Raiders in Week 3 of last year’s preseason (5.6, 9.270M), and up 2% and down 3%, respectively, from Steelers/Broncos in Week 3 of the 2010 preseason (6.1, 10.127M, FOX).

This marks the seventh-straight NFL preseason game on NBC to earn at least nine million viewers (dates back to 2009).

Since the current NFL television arrangement began in the 2006-07 season, nine of the ten most-viewed preseason games have aired on NBC. Sunday’s Panthers/Jets game ranks as the seventh-most viewed over that span, while Colts/Steelers the previous week ranks eighth.

Each of the top ten most-viewed games has aired on a Sunday night.

For the week, Panthers/Jets ranked as the highest rated program on television both overall and in the adults 18-49 demographic. In P2+ viewership, however, the game ranked second behind a reality show on NBC.

Most-Viewed NFL Preseason Games
Since current television arrangement began in the 2006-07 season
Asterisk (*) denotes Hall of Fame Game

# Date Away Home Net Rating Viewers (000)
1 Sun., 8/8/10* Cowboys Bengals NBC
6.8
11,438
2 Sun., 8/22/10 Vikings Niners NBC
6.7
10,822
3 Sun., 8/21/11 Chargers Cowboys NBC
6.4
10,676
4 Sun., 8/6/06* Raiders Eagles NBC
6.8
10,560
5 Sun., 8/30/09 Bears Broncos NBC
6.5
10,381
6 Sun., 8/29/10 Steelers Broncos FOX
6.1
10,127
7 Sun., 8/26/12 Panthers Jets NBC
6.2
9,819
8 Sun., 8/19/12 Colts Steelers NBC
6.0
9,506
9 Sun., 8/28/11 Saints Raiders NBC
5.6
9,270
10 Sun., 8/26/07 Eagles Steelers NBC
6.0
9,201

(Sunday’s numbers from TV By the Numbers)

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