After a slow start on CBS, Thursday Night Football finished strong on NBC.
The Week 16 Giants/Eagles Thursday Night Football game had a 10.6 final rating and 17.9 million viewers on NBC and NFL Network, up 194% in ratings and 154% in viewership from Chargers/Raiders on Christmas Eve last year (3.6, 7.1M) and up 242% and 270%, respectively, from Titans/Jaguars in 2014 (3.1, 4.9M). Both of those games aired on NFL Network alone.
The Eagles’ win, which peaked at 20.6 million viewers from 11:15-11:30 PM ET, earned the second-largest Thursday Night Football audience of the season behind only Cowboys/Vikings in Week 13 (21.8M). Overall, it was the sixth-most watched TNF simulcast on an over-the-air network (26 telecasts dating back to 2014).
Four of the ten largest Thursday Night Football audiences came this season, with three of those four on NBC.
Figures do not include the streaming audience of 350,000 on NBC and NFL digital platforms or the social networking website Twitter, the latter of which had 240,000 alone. With those numbers included, the game delivered 18.3 million viewers.
NBC’s five Thursday Night Football simulcasts averaged 17.0 million viewers (17.4M with streaming included), topping the five early season simulcasts on CBS by 16% (14.7M). All five windows posted an double-digit increase in ratings and viewership, with the caveat that four of those aired on NFL Network alone last year, and the fifth featured the Dallas Cowboys.
(Numbers from NBC Sports Group Press Box 12/23, with additional info from ShowBuzz Daily 12/23)
