CBS aired the highest rated and most-viewed NFL telecasts of the season over the holiday weekend.
The Week 13 Raiders/Cowboys NFL regular season game drew a 14.3 final rating and 31.7 million viewers on CBS Thanksgiving Day, up 6% in ratings and 10% in viewership from Washington/Cowboys (13.5, 28.7M), and flat and up 3%, respectively, from Dolphins/Cowboys in 2011 (14.3, 30.9M).
Raiders/Cowboys ranks as easily the most-viewed NFL telecast of the season, topping the second-best mark (28.5M) by over three million viewers. Overall, it was the most-viewed NFL regular season game on any network since Saints/Cowboys on Thanksgiving 2010 (31.9M).
The good times continued on Sunday. The Week 13 NFL national window, featuring Broncos/Chiefs, drew a 16.7 rating and 28.1 million viewers — up 20% in ratings and 22% in viewership from coverage featuring Steelers/Ravens last year (13.9, 23.0M), but down 5% and 6%, respectively, from coverage on FOX featuring Packers/Giants in 2011 (17.6, 29.8M).
The 16.7 rating is the highest of the season for any NFL telecast, edging the previous mark of 16.6 for the Week 1 and Week 5 national windows. Only one regular season telecast drew a better rating last year — the Cowboys/Washington season finale on NBC (17.0).
The telecast was also the fifth-most viewed of the season. Including the Packers/Lions Thanksgiving game on FOX, three of the season’s five most-viewed games took place in Week 13.
Wrapping up a strong week for CBS, the network’s early doubleheader window drew a 9.9 rating and 15.8 million viewers — up 27% in ratings from last year (7.8), and up 12% and 10%, respectively, from coverage on FOX featuring Broncos/Vikings in 2011 (8.8, 14.4M).
(Week 13 finals from Nielsen)
