With the undefeated Panthers taking on “America’s team,” CBS scored the NFL’s largest Thanksgiving Day audience in 17 years.
The Week 12 Panthers/Cowboys NFL regular season game drew a 14.3 rating and 32.5 million viewers on CBS Thanksgiving Day, per Nielsen fast-nationals — up 1% in ratings and viewership from Eagles/Cowboys on FOX last year (14.2, 32.0M) and flat and up 3%, respectively, from Raiders/Cowboys on CBS in 2013 (14.3, 31.7M).
The Panthers’ blowout win ranks as the most-watched NFL game on Thanksgiving Day since Vikings/Cowboys on FOX in 1998 (32.7M). Despite pitting a pair of NFC teams, it also counts as the top Thanksgiving game for an AFC broadcaster since Chiefs/Cowboys on NBC in 1995 (35.7M).
Regardless of day, the game drew the largest regular season NFL audience since Patriots/Giants in Week 17 of the 2007 season, which drew 34.5 million across CBS, NBC and NFL Network. That game and Patriots/Colts earlier the same season (33.8M) are the only NFL telecasts since 1998 to earn a larger audience.
Viewership was also the highest for any Panthers game since the 2013-14 playoffs, when their Divisional Round loss to the 49ers had 33.3 million. Last year’s playoff game against the Cardinals (21.7M) and Seahawks (31.0M) had fewer viewers.
Thursday’s game peaked with a 15.3 and 34.7 million from 5:30-6 PM ET.
(Thu. numbers from CBS Sports)
