One of the better Thanksgiving NFL games in recent memory delivered in a big way, according to a CBS projection.
CBS estimates that Thursday’s Raiders-Cowboys NFL Thanksgiving Day game averaged 38.53 million viewers, which would rank as the largest regular season NFL audience since 1990 (Giants-49ers: 41.47M). The estimate is based on a combination of Nielsen fast-nationals — which do not include out-of-home data — and CBS’ projection of the out-of-home audience. Due to the holiday, final nationals will not be available until Tuesday.
The CBS estimate slightly exceeds the current 31-year high of 38.4 million for Dolphins-Cowboys on NBC Thanksgiving 1993. Even if the CBS projection ends up being too generous, the game is almost certain to rank as the most-watched regular season window since that 1993 game. The current mark is 35.7 million for Chiefs-Cowboys on Thanksgiving 1995.
The estimated audience would mark a 26% increase over the Cowboys’ Thanksgiving Day game last year against Washington (30.68M) and would exceed every non-NFL sporting event since Game 7 of the 2016 World Series (Cubs-Indians: 41M).
In the seldom-publicized overnight ratings, which do not include out-of-home viewing, the game averaged a 14.8 rating in the 44 metered markets, peaking at a 17.8 from 8:15-8:30 PM ET — the highest for a Thanksgiving game since Washington-Dallas in 2016 (15.6). The game’s 40 share exceeded the 2016 game (39).
Dallas led all markets for the game with a 28.4 rating and 68 share, followed by Nashville (21.4/41), San Antonio (21.3/50), Sacramento (20.7/55) and Austin (20.7/54). Las Vegas ranked seventh at an 18.4.
As for the other Thanksgiving Day games, FOX averaged a 12.6 overnight rating for Bears-Lions, peaking at a 15.1 from 3:30-3:45 — up 4% from Detroit’s Thanksgiving game against Houston on CBS last year (12.1).
The Bills-Saints nightcap chipped in a 9.4 on NBC, down 12% from the last primetime Thanksgiving game in 2019 (Saints-Falcons: 10.7) and the lowest figure for the primetime game since it moved to NBC in 2012.
[Figures from CBS, Nielsen]
