The season’s first Thursday Night Football game exclusively on NFL Network scored a substantial increase in ratings and viewership.
The Browns/Bengals Thursday Night Football game earned a 5.5 final rating and 8.8 million viewers on NFL Network, up 31% in ratings and 28% in viewership from Saints/Panthers last year (4.2, 6.9M) and up 41% and 36%, respectively, from Bengals/Dolphins in 2013 (3.9, 6.5M). The numbers do not include viewership on local broadcast affiliates in Cleveland and Cincinnati.
The Bengals’ win ranks as the eighth-most watched NFL game ever broadcast exclusively on NFL Network. For the season, however, it ranks as the second-least watched game on any network* — ahead of only Lions/Chiefs from London in Week 8 (8.4M).
Among adults 18-49, the game drew a 3.1 rating — up 35% from last year (2.3) and up 24% from 2013 (2.5). It was not television’s top program of the day in the demo, trailing The Big Bang Theory on CBS (3.7).
* Not including the Week 7 Bills/Jaguars game from London, which was live streamed on Yahoo! and generated 1.6 million viewers per minute.
(Thu. numbers via TV Media Insights/ShowBuzz Daily)
