A thrice-delayed, Wednesday afternoon NFL game scored better ratings than all-but-one non-football sporting event this year.
Wednesday’s Ravens-Steelers NFL regular season game — originally scheduled for Thanksgiving night before being pushed to Sunday afternoon, Tuesday night, and finally Wednesday afternoon — averaged a 6.6 rating and 10.8 million viewers on NBC (11.4M across all platforms). Viewership peaked at 14.3 million from 6:30-6:45 PM ET.
The Steelers’ win delivered television’s largest weekday audience on a single network this year, excluding holidays. It outdrew NBC’s primetime Christmas tree lighting at Rockefeller Center (7.40M) and topped all-but-one non-football sporting event in 2020. Game 6 of the World Series averaged a 6.8 and 12.70 million.
As one would expect, ratings and viewership were well below what the game would have drawn had it taken place on Thanksgiving night as scheduled. Last year’s Thanksgiving night game (Saints-Falcons) averaged a 9.9 and 20.81 million.
Despite a weekday afternoon kickoff time, the game averaged a whopping 42.8 rating and 68 share in Pittsburgh and a 25.0/49 in Baltimore.
In other Week 12 action, last Sunday’s Chiefs-Buccaneers game averaged a 12.8 and 23.12 million on CBS — the network’s highest rated and second-most watched game all season. CBS scored its top two audiences in Week 12, with the Texans-Lions Thanksgiving game holding the top spot (23.39M).
Ratings and viewership fell 22% from last year’s comparable Week 12 window, Cowboys-Patriots on FOX (16.5, 29.47M). Compared to Thanksgiving weekend last year — which coincided with Week 13 — the game posted a modest increase over coverage featuring Raiders-Chiefs (12.2, 21.90M).
The first half of the CBS doubleheader (mostly Titans-Colts or Raiders-Falcons) averaged a 7.7 and 13.46 million. As with the late window, ratings and viewership fell from Week 12 last year (mostly Seahawks-Eagles: 9.0, 15.38M) but increased from last year’s Thanksgiving weekend window (mostly Browns-Steelers: 7.0, 11.88M).
FOX faced the same trend, but in reverse. Its singleheader — Cardinals-Patriots or Saints-Broncos in most markets — averaged an 8.5 and 15.17 million, up from Week 12 last year (mostly Panthers-Saints or Raiders-Jets: 8.1, 13.52M) but down from last Thanksgiving weekend (mostly 49ers-Ravens: 12.0, 20.90M).
Rounding out the Week 12 slate, NBC’s Sunday Night Football (Bears-Packers) averaged a 9.1 and 16.48 million — down double-digits from both Week 12 last year (Packers-49ers: 11.8, 20.83M) and last Thanksgiving weekend (Patriots-Texans: 12.3, 21.45M).
ESPN’s Monday Night Football (Seahawks-Eagles) averaged 11.38 million viewers (+4%), the most-watched Week 12 edition of the series in four years (2016 Packers-Eagles: 13.06M).
Last week’s NFL Thanksgiving Day ratings were previously reported here.
The full list of 2020 NFL ratings is available here.
[Nielsen estimates from NBC Sports, ShowBuzz Daily 12.2, 12.4]
