Thursday Night Football finished on a high note, both on the field and in the ratings.
FOX and NFL Network earned a combined 10.5 rating and 17.4 million viewers for the Week 15 Chargers-Chiefs Thursday Night Football game, trailing only Saints-Cowboys two weeks earlier (12.5, 21.3M) as the highest rated and most-watched Thursday night game since 2016.
Ratings increased 31% and viewership 3% from last year’s final TNF simulcast, an afternoon Steelers-Texans game on Christmas (8.0, 16.9M). Compared to last year’s Week 15 TNF game, Broncos-Colts, ratings increased 62% (from 6.5) and viewership 53% (from 10.6M).
The Chargers’ last-second win delivered the 13th-largest TV audience in the history of Thursday Night Football (dates back to 2006).* The game had 18.1 million with streaming included.
For the season, the 11 Thursday Night Football simulcasts averaged an 8.7 rating and 14.3 million viewers, up 4% in ratings and 2% in viewership from last year (8.4, 14.1M).
Three of the final four TNF simulcasts this season had a double-digit rating, after none of the games cracked the 10.0 mark last season.
On a week-over-week basis, five of the final six TNF simulcasts increased over last season. Keep in mind that in one of those weeks, last year’s comparable game aired exclusively on NFL Network.
Thursday’s game had a 5.0 rating in adults 18-49, up 9% from last year’s final simulcast (4.6) and up 72% from last year’s Week 15 game (2.9). It also had a 4.0 in adults 18-34 and a 6.0 in adults 25-54.
* Thursday Night Football package includes Saturday games and does not include the NFL Kickoff Game or NBC’s Thanksgiving night games, which are part of the Sunday Night Football package.
Numbers from NFL Communications 12.14; Programming Insider 12.14]
