The final results are in, and last night’s historic Patriots/Giants game was the most watched regular season NFL game in twelve years.
Patriots/Giants drew a combined 34.5 million viewers on CBS, NBC and the NFL Network, the most since a Thanksgiving Day game in 1995 drew 35.7 million. Preliminary numbers showed that 25.4 million watched the game on CBS and NBC alone, which could indicate a sizable audience for the NFL Network.
The huge audience caps off a year of big ratings for individual games in the NFL. While FOX, NBC and ESPN all saw their ratings decline overall this season, several titanic match-ups drew massive ratings throughout the year.
The four most watched NFL games in the past eleven years all occurred this season, and all four games involved the Patriots. Patriots/Giants last night, Patriots/Steelers earlier this month, and Patriots/Colts in November each averaged over 30 million viewers; Patriots/Cowboys in October averaged 29.1 million.
The Patriots were also involved in the most watched program in cable history, when 17.5 million viewers watched their Monday Night Football contest against the Baltimore Ravens. On a lesser scale, the Patriots/Eagles game the next week gave NBC its highest ever Sunday Night Football overnight rating.
Outside of the Patriots, a Cowboys/Packers game in November drew a record 10.1 million viewers to the NFL Network — more than the average viewership of the 2007 NBA Finals and the final rounds of the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship.
In Boston, Patriots/Giants drew a 50.1/75 rating, meaning three out of every four televisions in use were tuned into the game. By comparison, the Patriots last Super Bowl victory averaged a 53.1/78 rating.
Where Patriots/Giants fits in Boston.
59.0/77: 2004 World Series, Red Sox/Cardinals Game 4
56.6/76: 2004 ALCS, Red Sox/Yankees Game 7
56.1/78: Super Bowl XXXVI, Patriots/Rams
55.3/73: 2007 World Series, Red Sox/Rockies Game 4
54.3/71: 2004 World Series, Red Sox/Cardinals Game 3
53.1/78: Super Bowl XXXIX, Patriots/Eagles
52.9/73: 2003 ALCS, Red Sox/Yankees Game 7
52.2/78: Super Bowl XXXVIII, Patriots/Panthers
51.2/71: 2007 World Series, Rockies/Red Sox Game 2
50.1/75: 2007, Patriots/Giants
