As is almost always the case, CBS lagged behind FOX and NBC during the 2012 NFL season.
Twenty-seven NFL regular season telecasts averaged 17.7 million viewers on CBS, according to Sports Business Daily — down 4% from last year (18.4M), and down 6% from 2010 (18.7M). Like rivals NBC and FOX, CBS hit a three-year low in viewership.
CBS was, by a decent margin, the least-watched of the three NFL broadcast networks. NBC averaged 21.4 million viewers for nineteen telecasts and FOX averaged 19.7 million for twenty-seven.
2012 was the fifth straight season that CBS finished behind both NBC and FOX. The last time the network topped one of the two networks was the 2007 season, when CBS topped NBC by 600,000 viewers.
The most-viewed game of the season on CBS was Texans/Lions on Thanksgiving Day (27.3M), which ranked fourth for the season overall.
Ratings/Viewership For NFL National Telecasts on CBS
2012 regular season
|
WK #
|
Date
|
Featured Game |
Net
|
Rating
|
Viewers
|
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Away
|
Home | |||||
| 2 | Sun., 9/16/12 | Jets | Steelers | CBS |
12.2
|
19.9M
|
| 3 | Sun., 9/23/12 | Texans | Broncos | CBS |
14.4
|
24.0M
|
| 5 | Sun., 10/7/12 | Broncos | Patriots | CBS |
14.5
|
24.5M
|
| 7 | Sun., 10/21/12 | Jets | Patriots | CBS |
14.0
|
23.0M
|
| 9 | Sun., 11/4/12 | Steelers | Giants | CBS |
14.7
|
24.2M
|
| 11 | Sun., 11/18/12 | Colts | Patriots | CBS |
14.5
|
23.6M
|
| 12 | Thu., 11/22/12 | Texans | Lions | CBS |
13.9
|
27.3M
|
| 13 | Sun., 12/2/12 | Steelers | Ravens | CBS |
13.9
|
23.0M
|
| 15 | Sun., 12/16/12 | Steelers | Cowboys | CBS |
16.2
|
26.9M
|
| 17 | Sun., 12/30/12 | Texans | Colts | CBS |
N/A
|
|
(Season averages from Sports Business Daily)
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