The NFL’s two highest-profile TV windows hit season-lows in Week 10.
Sunday’s NFL national window (mostly Giants-Cowboys) averaged a 11.0 rating and 21.73 million viewers on FOX, marking the least-watched national window this season (excluding Week 1, when CBS and FOX cannibalized each other with competing doubleheaders). Ratings declined 26% and viewership 25% from coverage featuring Cowboys-Packers last year (14.9, 29.17M).
Both Cowboys-Giants games this season aired in standalone windows and both were blowouts — Dallas by 40 in Week 1 and 32 in Week 10 — that declined double-digits.
Sunday Night Football also hit a season-low in Week 10, as Jets-Raiders averaged an 8.5 and 15.64 million on NBC — up a tick in ratings but down 1% in viewership from Chargers-49ers a year ago (8.4, 15.84M). NBC’s three smallest audiences this season have come in the past five weeks, with Bears-Chargers in Week 8 at 15.72 million and Giants-Bills in Week 6 at 16.71 million.
For just the third time this season, Sunday Night Football trailed its Monday night counterpart. Monday Night Football (Broncos-Bills) averaged a combined 9.7 and 17.68 million across ABC, ESPN and ESPN2, up 41% in ratings and 38% in viewership from Washington-Philadelphia last year (6.9, 12.77M). Denver’s upset win, which peaked with 19.8 million from 9:30-9:45 PM ET, delivered the largest Week 10 MNF audience since Cowboys-Eagles on ABC alone in 2005 (18.52M).
With ABC carrying games in every week of the season, Monday Night Football is now averaging 15.6 million viewers — up 16% from last year and the highest ten-week average since ABC’s previous full-time season in 2005.
Also on the upswing, CBS averaged an 8.4 and 16.27 million for its Sunday singleheader (Packers-Steelers or Lions-Chargers in most markets) — up 10% in ratings and 12% in viewership from last year (feat. Jaguars-Chiefs: 7.6, 14.46M). With an average of 17.95 million viewers, CBS is off to its best start through ten weeks since 2015.
Rounding out the gains, Amazon’s Thursday Night Football scored a 40 percent increase despite pitting teams with a combined 3-14 record, as previously noted.
Those were the bright spots in what was a mixed Week 10. In addition to the declines for the national window and SNF, FOX also posted declines for the first half of its doubleheader (mostly 49ers-Jaguars), which sank 21% in ratings (to 6.6) and 23% in viewership (to 12.52M). The final international game of the NFL season, Colts-Patriots from Frankfurt, Gemrany, on NFL Network — declined 15% (to 2.5) and 17% (to 4.59M) from last year’s equivalent Seahawks-Buccaneers game.
For the full list of NFL ratings this season, see the following page.
