Much like the other demographics, NFL viewing among young women is much more influenced by the action on-the-field than off.
As previously noted, NBC’s Sunday Night Football (Cowboys-49ers) topped Week 5 of the NFL season with 24.29 million Nielsen-measured viewers. Perhaps more notable, given the narrative of the past week, is the fact that the game delivered the season’s top NFL audience among women and girls 12-24 with 685,000 viewers in the demo — up nearly 20% from the much-discussed Chiefs-Jets game the prior Sunday night (576K). (That is despite the overall audience trailing Chiefs-Jets.)
The three most-watched games in the female 12-24 demo this season have all featured Dallas, with the Cowboys’ 35-point rout of the Patriots placing second with 654,000 (on the same day as Chiefs-Jets) and their 20-point rout of the Jets in Week 2 ranking third (647K). By comparison, the most-watched Chiefs game in the demo this season was not their matchup with the Jets (or the prior week against the Bears), but Sunday’s game against the Vikings with 609,000 viewers.
While NBC touted massive increases in female viewership for the Chiefs-Jets game, those were only as compared to the first three Sunday Night Football games this season. Nonetheless, there was no shortage of reporting implying a much more significant shift in viewing habits. A Wall Street Journal headline over the weekend trumpeted the Chiefs-Jets numbers as showing that “Dads and Daughters Are Finally Watching Football Together.”
In other Week 5 action, the latest edition of Monday Night Football (Packers-Raiders) averaged a 9.5 rating and 17.38 million viewers across ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 — marking the largest Week 5 MNF audience since at least 2000. MNF has now reached at least a 14-year high three times in five weeks this season, with the caveat that ABC is simulcasting nearly all Monday night games this season.
Ratings increased 9% and viewership 10% from Raiders-Chiefs last year, which aired on the ESPN cable networks alone (8.7, 15.79M).
Returning to Sunday, the NFL national window (mostly Chiefs-Vikings) averaged an 11.6 and 23.13 million on CBS — down 4% in ratings and 5% in viewership from last year on FOX (mostly Cowboys-Rams: 12.0, 24.25M), marking the fourth-straight week that ratings and viewership have declined for what is traditionally the most-watched NFL telecast of a given week.
CBS also posted a decline for the first half of its doubleheader (mostly Ravens-Steelers), which drew a 6.7 (-3%) and 12.63 million (-1%). Despite the declines, CBS not only remains up for the season but is averaging its highest five-week mark since resuming NFL coverage in 1998. (Keep in mind out-of-home viewing was not tracked in Nielsen’s final nationals prior to 2020).
Over on FOX, singleheader action Eagles-Rams or Giants-Dolphins averaged an 8.4 and 16.81 million — up 10% and 14% respectively from last year on CBS (7.6, 14.70M).
Rounding out the Week 5 slate, the Jaguars-Bills International Series game from London averaged a 2.7 and 5.13 million on NFL Network — down 9% in ratings and 2% in viewership from Giants-Packers last year (3.0, 5.22M).
For the full list of NFL ratings this season, see the linked page.
