For the second-straight week, a massive television audience watched the Cowboys lose to an AFC East opponent.
Thursday’s Bills-Cowboys NFL Thanksgiving special averaged a 13.5 rating and 32.64 million viewers on CBS, marking the largest regular season NFL audience since Thanksgiving 2016 (Washington-Dallas: 35.10M).
It trails only the 2016 game as the most-watched regular season telecast since Patriots-Giants in 2007, which aired on three networks (33.39M), and the most-watched on Thanksgiving since 1998 (Vikings-Cowboys: 32.7M).
Buffalo’s win, which peaked with 35.45 million in the fast-nationals, also delivered the largest regular season audience on CBS since Patriots-Colts in 2007 (33.82M), and its largest Thanksgiving audience since 1992.
The two largest audiences of this season have taken place within the past week, both for Cowboys games against the AFC East. The previous high was 29.47 million for Dallas’ loss to New England on FOX Sunday.
Versus previous Cowboys games on Thanksgiving, ratings increased 8% and viewership 7% from their win over Washington on FOX last year (12.5, 30.48M) and 22% and 24% respectively from their loss to the Chargers on CBS in 2017 (11.1, 26.28M). Compared to Bears-Lions on CBS last Thanksgiving, ratings increased 10% (from 12.3) and viewership 23% (from 26.50M).
Bills-Cowboys ranks as television’s most-watched program since the Super Bowl, topping February’s Academy Awards on ABC (29.56M).
The game averaged a season-high 9.3 rating in adults 18-49 and an 8.1 in adults 18-34.
[Nielsen estimates from CBS; additional info from ShowBuzz Daily 12.4]
