The addition of CBS resulted in huge gains for the season-debut of Thursday Night Football.
The Week 2 Steelers/Ravens Thursday Night Football game drew a combined 13.7 overnight rating on CBS and NFL Network, up 108% from Jets/Patriots on NFL Network alone last year (6.6). The 13.7 is easily the highest ever for the Thursday Night Football franchise, topping the previous mark of 6.9 for Chiefs/Eagles in Week 3 of last season.
To put the numbers in perspective, the season debut of Sunday Night Football on NBC had a 15.1 overnight — and that was the lowest for the opener in five years. ESPN’s Monday Night Football drew overnights of 9.2 and 7.8 in Week 1.
Even if not quite at the level of SNF, Thursday Night Football was a boon to CBS. Steelers/Ravens delivered the network’s best Thursday night in primetime since 2006, quite the accomplishment considering that CBS has regularly been the top broadcast network.
(Thu. numbers from CBS Press Express)
