One week after the Hall of Fame Game laid an egg, NFL preseason ratings bounced back Thursday night.
Thursday’s Browns-Giants NFL preseason game earned a 1.25 rating and 1.93 million viewers on NFL Network, up 11% in ratings and 6% in viewership from last year (Broncos-Bears: 1.1, 1.83M) and up 49% in both measures from 2016 opposite the Olympics (Saints-Patriots: 0.8, 1.29M).
Cleveland’s win was the tenth-most watched preseason game in NFL Network history. The Browns also played in the top game, a 2014 matchup against Detroit that featured Johnny Manziel (2.8M).
It was also NFL Network’s most-watched primetime preseason game since 2015 (Packers-Patriots: 2.5M).
Later in the night, Cowboys-49ers had a 1.0 and 1.510 million. There were no comparable windows last year or in 2015. It was the most-watched late night preseason game (start time of 10 PM ET or later) since 2015, when Broncos-Seahawks had 1.513 million.
In local action, Packers-Titans had a 16.6 rating on Tennessee CBS affiliate WTVF, per The Tennessean — up 39% from the Titans’ opener last preseason (11.9). Panthers-Bills pulled a 21.9 in Buffalo, according to the Buffalo News, up 14% from last year (19.3).
Top NFL Preseason Audiences on NFL Network
[Numbers from Nielsen via Programming Insider 8.10; Buffalo News 8.10; The Tennessean 8.10]
