Though short of a season-high, last weekend’s Steelers-Saints nailbiter still delivered in the ratings.
Steelers-Saints had a 13.4 rating and 23.9 million viewers in last Sunday’s NFL national window on CBS, up 10% in ratings and 4% in viewership from last year (mostly Seahawks-Cowboys: 12.2, 23.0M) and up 65% and 55% respectively from 2016 (mostly Buccaneers-Saints: 8.1, 15.4M*). Keep in mind that those telecasts, which aired on FOX, took place on Christmas Eve.
The Saints’ narrow win was the highest rated and most-watched Week 16 NFL game since 2015 (mostly Packers-Cardinals: 15.5, 27.8M).
It ranks as the sixth-highest rated and fifth-most watched NFL telecast of the season. Three of the five largest audiences belong to CBS.
The national window has now topped a 13.0 rating and 23 million viewers in five straight weeks, the longest-such stretch since Weeks 10-15 of the 2016 season.
Earlier Sunday, CBS drew an 8.5 and 14.48 million for the first half of its doubleheader — up 23% in ratings and 17% in viewership from last year (ft. Falcons-Saints: 6.9, 12.4M) but down 15% and 21% respectively from 2016 (mostly Packers-Vikings: 10.0, 18.4M*).
The full list of Week 16 NFL ratings is available here.
* In Week 16 of the 2016 season, the 1 PM ET window served as the traditional “national window.”
[Numbers from Nielsen via ShowBuzz Daily 12.27]
