The Saturday finale of Thursday Night Football put up relatively low numbers on CBS and NFL Network.
The Week 16 Chargers/49ers NFL regular season game drew an 8.0 final rating and 13.0 million viewers on CBS and NFL Network Saturday night, the second-lowest rating and viewership Thursday Night Football on CBS this season (eight telecasts). Only Buccaneers/Falcons in Week 3 earned lower numbers (7.5, 11.9M).
Outside of Buccaneers/Falcons, no primetime NFL game has put up lower numbers on broadcast TV since 2011 — when NBC drew a 7.6 and 12.5 million for a Colts/Saints blowout opposite the World Series.
The early game between the Eagles and Washington earned a 4.4 and 7.2 million on NFL Network alone, the third-lowest rating and viewership for any NFL telecast this season. Only Saints/Panthers in Week 8 (4.2, 6.9M) and Titans/Jaguars last Thursday (3.1, 4.9M) earned lower numbers.
Keep in mind those figures do not include broadcast network simulcasts in the home markets.
Overall, Thursday Night Football averaged a 7.6 rating and 12.3 million viewers across sixteen telecasts (includes local affiliate viewership for the solo NFL Network games) — up 52% in both measures from last year on NFL Network and local affiliates (5.0, 8.1M) and the most-watched TNF season ever (dates back to 2006).
(Sat. ratings from Bloomberg [1], [2]; viewership from TV By the Numbers [1], [2]; season avg. from NFL Communications)
