In a downer season for Thursday Night Football ratings, the largest audience came on a Monday afternoon.
Monday’s Steelers-Texans NFL Christmas special had an 8.0 rating and 16.9 million viewers across NBC and NFL Network, up 23% in ratings and 15% in viewership from Steelers-Ravens on NFL Network alone last year (6.5, 14.8M), and the largest audience of the season for the Thursday Night Football package.
Pittsburgh’s easy win, which had 17.1 million with streaming included, surpassed the previous TNF high of 15.6 million for Washington-Dallas in Week 13.
Steelers-Texans was easily the top program of Christmas Day, comfortably topping Monday Night Football on ESPN (11.7M) and the competing Cavaliers-Warriors NBA game on ABC (8.8M).
In the key young adult demographics, ratings increased just a tick in adults 18-49 (from 4.5 to 4.6) and 6% in adults 25-54 (from 5.2 to 5.6), and actually slipped in adults 18-34 (from 3.7 to 3.6).
For the season, the six TNF simulcasts on NBC averaged an 8.1 rating and 14.0 million viewers — down 21% in ratings and 17% in viewership from five simulcasts last season (10.2, 17.0M). CBS averaged an 8.6 and 14.1 million for its five simulcasts earlier in the season, down a more modest 3% and 4% respectively from last year (8.9, 14.7M).
NBC’s simulcasts averaged a 4.1 rating in adults 18-49 (-21%), while the CBS simulcasts averaged a 4.5 (-8%).
NFL Christmas Ratings, Viewership, This Century
| Ranked by viewership; this year’s games highlighted | ||||||
| # | Year | Time | Game | Net | Rtg. | Vwrs. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2011 | 8:30 PM | CHI-GB | NBC | 12.6 | 24.02M |
| 2 | 2006 | 5:00 PM | PHI-DAL | NBC | 12.1 | 23.21M |
| 3 | 2016 | 8:30 PM | DEN-KC | NBC | 10.6 | 21.40M |
| 4 | 2005 | 5:00 PM | CHI-GB | FOX | 9.7 | 17.40M |
| 5 | 2000 | 9:00 PM | DAL-TEN | ABC | 11.0 | 17.30M |
| 6 | 2017 | 4:30 PM | PIT-HOU | NBC, NFLN |
8.0 | 16.92M |
| 7 | 2004 | 5:00 PM | OAK-KC | CBS | 8.6 | 15.79M |
| 8 | 2016 | 4:30 PM | BAL-PIT | NFLN | 6.5 | 14.80M |
| 9 | 2017 | 8:30 PM | OAK-PHI | ESPN | 5.9 | 11.74M |
| 10 | 2006 | 8:30 PM | NYJ-MIA | ESPN | 6.5 | 11.08M |
| 11 | 2005 | 8:30 PM | MIN-BAL | ESPN | 5.4 | 8.76M |
| 12 | 2004 | 8:30 PM | DEN-TEN | ESPN | 4.9 | 8.42M |
| 13 | 2010 | 8:00 PM | DAL-ARIZ | NFLN | 3.8 | 7.84M |
| 14 | 2009 | 8:00 PM | SD-TEN | NFLN | 3.3 | 6.88M |
[Numbers from NBC Sports PR, ShowBuzz Daily 12.27]
