With the Cowboys losing a nailbiter to their NFL-leading Philadelphia rivals, FOX scored the largest Nielsen-measured audience of the season in Week 9.
Sunday’s NFL national window on FOX (Cowboys-Eagles in 91% of markets) averaged a 13.3 rating and 27.14 million viewers on FOX, marking the highest rated and most-watched telecast of the NFL season, per Nielsen. The previous high was 26.09 million for coverage featuring Eagles-Jets on FOX in Week 6. (Including Adobe Analytics, which tracks NBC’s streaming viewership, the top audience of the season remains 27.5 million for the Lions-Chiefs Kickoff Game).
In addition to the season-high, viewership was the highest for any Week 9 NFL telecast in nine years — since CBS averaged 29.09 million for coverage featuring Tom Brady’s Patriots against Peyton Manning’s Broncos.
Ratings increased 26% and viewership 34% from Rams-Buccaneers on CBS last year (10.6, 20.25M). After trailing last year for much of the season, FOX is now averaging 17.59 million for the NFL season, up 1% from the first nine weeks of last season (17.36M). The network’s late doubleheader window is averaging 23.46 million, also up 1%.
No other NFL telecast cracked the 20 million viewer mark in Week 9. Bills-Bengals placed a distant second with a 10.0 and 18.36 million on NBC’s Sunday Night Football, the most-watched Week 9 edition of SNF since 2019 (Patriots-Ravens: 22.03M). Cincinnati’s win ranks just seventh out of the ten NFL windows on NBC this season, lower than one might expect for a matchup of AFC contenders with some noteworthy recent history.
NBC is now averaging a Nielsen-measured audience of 20.3 million viewers this season (22.0M including Adobe Analytics), its best nine-week average since 2015.
CBS placed third for the week with a 7.5 and 14.54 million for its singleheader window (Seahawks-Ravens in 50% of markets), down 7% in ratings and 6% in viewership from last year on FOX (8.1, 15.49M). Despite the down week, CBS still finished the first half of the season averaging 18.07 million viewers — up 2% from last year and its highest first half average since 2015.
The CBS national window is averaging 24.11 million so far this season, up 5% from last year and the most-watched NFL telecast window. The last time the CBS national window finished as the most-watched of a season was 2007.
Returning to primetime, Monday Night Football (Chargers-Jets) scored an 8.2 and 14.50 million across ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 — up 41% in ratings and 38% in viewership from Ravens-Saints on ESPN and ESPN2 alone last year (5.8, 10.53M) and the most-watched Week 9 edition of MNF since Cowboys-Giants in 2019. The Chargers’ win was still the least-watched MNF simulcast on ABC and ESPN this season.
With ABC airing games in every week of the season, Monday Night Football is averaging 15.4 million viewers — up 14% from last year and the highest nine-week MNF average since 2005, the final year of ABC’s original run with the series.
Rounding out the week nine slate, FOX averaged a 6.0 and 11.46 million for the first half of its doubleheader (featuring Rams-Packers) — down 19% and 17% respectively from last year on CBS (mostly Bills-Jets: 7.4, 13.88M). The Dolphins-Chiefs International Series game from Frankfurt, Germany, averaged a 4.8 and 9.18 million on NFL Network, the most-watched morning NFL game since 2015. Finally, Amazon Prime Thursday Night Football scored another double-digit increase for Titans-Steelers (5.5, 11.52M).
