The postponement of Patriots-Chiefs hurt CBS on Sunday, but delivered the network’s best primetime audience in months Monday.
Monday’s Patriots-Chiefs NFL game, which was originally scheduled to lead Sunday’s late doubleheader window but was pushed back a day, averaged an 8.3 rating and 14.60 million viewers on CBS. Kansas City’s win nearly matched the previous night’s Eagles-49ers game on NBC’s Sunday Night Football, which averaged an 8.4 and 15.08 million.
If lower than what CBS could have expected in the Sunday afternoon slot, the game was nonetheless a boon for the network — delivering its largest primetime audience since a presidential primary debate on February 25 (15.34M). In adults 18-49 (4.0) and 18-34 (3.0), it was the top primetime CBS show since the Grammy Awards in January (5.4 and 4.0 respectively).
Due to the rescheduling of Patriots-Chiefs, ESPN’s Monday Night Football (Falcons-Packers) not only faced unusually strong competition but also had its start time pushed back 45 minutes. MNF averaged just 8.65 million viewers, down 17% from last year (Bengals-Steelers: 10.47M), down 35% from 2018 (Chiefs-Broncos: 13.21M), and ESPN’s smallest Week 4 audience since 2005 (49ers-Cardinals: 7.74M).
As one would expect, the change also hurt Sunday’s CBS national window. Instead of featuring Patriots-Chiefs in 93% of markets as originally planned, CBS sent Bills-Raiders to 75%. The telecast averaged a 9.9 rating and 18.61 million viewers, down 12% in ratings and 6% in viewership from last year (mostly Vikings-Bears: 11.3, 19.80M) and down 18% and 10% respectively from 2018 (Saints-Giants: 12.1, 20.69M).
Not counting Week 17, when both CBS and FOX air doubleheaders, it was the lowest rated national window since Week 4 in 2017 (Raiders-Broncos: 9.1) and the least-watched since Week 11 in 2018 (Saints-Eagles: 18.38M).
Scheduling changes also hurt the early CBS window, which featured Chargers-Buccaneers in 76% of markets. The network had just three games in the window after it lost Steelers-Titans to postponement and Colts-Bears replaced Patriots-Chiefs in the late window. The telecast averaged just a 5.6 and 9.95 million, down 36% in ratings and 32% in viewership from last year (mostly Patriots-Bills: 8.7, 14.65M).
The early window faced tough competition from the FOX singleheader (mostly Browns-Cowboys or Giants-Rams), which averaged a 9.0 (-7%) and 16.85 million (+2%) — marking the fifth of six FOX windows this season to post a viewership bump. It was the only telecast of Week 4 to increase. [Related: NFL TV ratings page.]
NBC’s Sunday Night Football posted the biggest decline of the weekend, with Eagles-49ers down 39% in ratings (to 8.4) and 37% in viewership (to 15.08M). Keep in mind that last year’s comparable Cowboys-Saints game — NBC’s highest rated and most-watched of the season — faced extremely limited competition. The top competing sportscast, an 8 PM ET SportsCenter on ESPN, averaged 317,000. By contrast, this year’s game faced an NBA Finals game that averaged nearly six million viewers.
Philadelphia’s win posted the lowest Sunday Night Football rating since Week 8 in 2018 (Saints-Vikings: 8.3), but the smallest audience in less than a year — since Week 6 of last season (Steelers-Chargers: 14.89M).
[Nielsen estimates from CBS Sports PR, ShowBuzz Daily 10.6 a, b]
