NFL viewership not only rebounded from last year but hit the highest level in more than half a decade.
The expanded, 18-week NFL regular season averaged 17.1 million viewers per window across TV and digital platforms, up 10% from last year and the league’s highest average since 2015.
FOX was the most-watched NFL rightsholder with an average of 18.57 million viewers for its primary Sunday package, up 3% from last year (18.1M) and its second-most watched season in the past five years. The network averaged 19.2 million in 2019.
The FOX figure does not include the network’s Thursday Night Football simulcasts, which as previously noted hit a six-year high with an average of 16.4 million (+16%).
NBC ranked second with a 9.9 rating and 18.5 million for its Sunday Night Football package, up 6% in ratings and 10% in viewership from last year (9.3, 16.8M) but down 12% and 8% respectively from 2019 (11.3, 20.0M). Unlike the NFL’s other broadcast partners, which finished at or near multi-year highs, NBC’s average topped only last year and 2017 (18.2M) as its lowest since 2010.
CBS placed third with an average of 18.03 million viewers, up 9% from last year (16.54M), up 5% from 2019 (17.22M) and its most-watched season since 2015.
Shifting to cable, ESPN averaged 14.18 million for Monday Night Football (including five games simulcast on ABC), up 16% from last year and its most-watched season since 2010.
As is usually the case, the NFL averaged its most viewers during the primary doubleheader window — which averaged 23.14 million viewers on FOX and 21.59 million on CBS.
The Raiders-Cowboys Thanksgiving Day game was the most-watched of the season with 40.80 million viewers on CBS (recall that Nielsen quietly adjusted that figure upward from its initial report of 37.84 million). Six windows this season exceeded the 25 million viewer mark, up from two last season and the most in a single NFL season since 2016.
It is worth noting that as of last year, all Nielsen estimates include out-of-home viewing. While the addition of out-of-home has done little to keep other leagues from hitting historic lows over the past two years, it does skew comparisons to prior seasons.
For a full list of NFL ratings this season, see the following page.
[Nielsen estimates from NFL, network PR]
