Putting this year’s Jets in primetime continues to be a costly mistake.
Saturday’s Dolphins/Jets Thursday Night Football special had a 2.5 final rating and 4.4 million viewers on NFL Network, down 42% in ratings and 41% in viewership from Jets/Cowboys last year (4.3, 7.4M). There was no comparable game in 2014.
The Dolphins’ win tied the lowest primetime NFL rating on any network since Panthers/Steelers in Week 16 of the 2010 season (2.4) and posted the smallest such audience since Jaguars/Falcons in Week 15 of the 2011 season (4.0M). Keep in mind that does not include a rescheduled Chargers/Raiders game on NFL Network in 2013 that had a 1.6 and 2.5 million. That game began at 11 PM ET, after primetime.
The 4-10 Jets have had a particularly damaging effect on primetime ratings, having already this season played in two of the four lowest rated Monday Night Football games of all time.
Though low for primetime, Dolphins/Jets was not the lowest rated and least-watched game of the season. That dubious distinction still belongs to Giants/Rams on NFL Network in Week 7 (2.4, 3.7M), a London game that began at 9:30 AM ET (6:30 AM in the Rams’ home market of Los Angeles).
Of the six NFL telecasts to air exclusively on NFL Network this season, only one has exceeded a 4.0 rating or six million viewers. By comparison, seven of last year’s eight NFL Network games surpassed one or both marks.
In adults 18-49, Dolphins/Jets plunged 46% (from 2.4 to 1.3).
(Wknd. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily 12/20)
