The NFL scored its highest ratings Sunday — both overall and in primetime — since the start of the season.
Sunday’s NFL national window (mostly Packers-Colts) averaged a 12.7 rating and 23.91 million viewers on FOX, marking the league’s second-highest rating and viewership of the season. The Week 1 national window (mostly Buccaneers-Saints) had a 13.2 and 26.3 million, also on FOX.
Ratings still fell 9% and viewership 4% from last year’s Week 11 national window on CBS (mostly Patriots-Eagles: 14.0, 24.89M).
Shifting to primetime, NBC averaged a 10.8 and 19.57 million for Chiefs-Raiders on Sunday Night Football game (20.2M across all platforms), ranking second among primetime games this season behind the Texans-Chiefs season opener (11.2, 20.54M).
The Chiefs’ narrow win increased 11% in ratings and 16% in viewership from Week 11 last season (Bears-Rams: 9.7, 16.85M), just the second time all season that NBC has posted an increase. It snapped a streak of seven-straight games on the network with a single-digit rating.
Notably, the Kansas City market turned in a whopping 50.0 rating and 74 share, meaning half of television households — and nearly three-quarters of homes with TVs in use — were tuned to the game.
ESPN’s Monday Night Football also hit a multi-week high with 12.61 million viewers for Rams-Buccaneers — the largest Monday night audience since Chiefs-Ravens in Week 3 (14.70M). Viewership inched up a fraction from last year (Chiefs-Chargers: 12.57M).
Rounding out the primetime success in Week 11, Thursday Night Football posted its largest audience since Week 4, as noted previously.
In other action, CBS averaged an 8.0 and 14.69 million for singleheader coverage featuring Titans-Ravens or Dolphins-Broncos — down 18% in ratings and 12% in viewership from Week 11 on FOX last year (mostly Cowboys-Lions: 9.7, 16.76M). Viewership did increase 8% over the equivalent date last year, which corresponded with Week 12 of the season.
FOX pulled a 7.3 and 12.74 million for the first half of its doubleheader (mostly Falcons-Saints or Eagles-Browns), down 5% in ratings but up 1% in viewership from last year on CBS (mostly Texans-Ravens: 7.7, 12.62M).
The full list of 2020 NFL ratings is available here.
[Nielsen estimates from Fox Sports PR, NBC Sports PR, CBS Sports PR, ESPN PR 11.24, ShowBuzz Daily 11.24]
