The NFL averaged 18.7 million viewers per game during the regular season, the second-highest since audience averages began being kept in 1988.
The per-game average on TV and digital platforms was a 10% increase from last season’s 17.5 million and up 7% from 2023, according to the league and Nielsen. It also was just off the record average of 19 million, which was set in 1989.
Some of the increase can be attributed to a change in the way viewers are counted. Nielsen began using its Big Data + Panel methodology for all events last September with the start of the current television season.
Earlier this year, Nielsen began measuring out-of-home viewers for all states but Hawaii and Alaska, along with including data from smart TVs along with cable and satellite set-top boxes.
Nielsen previously measured only the top 44 media markets, which covered 65% of the country.
All five of the league’s weekly packages experienced viewer increases. Prime Video’s “Thursday Night Football” had the biggest gains at 16%. CBS also had a double-digit increase at 11%. ESPN/ABC’s “Monday Night Football” and NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” were both up 9% and Fox had a 6% jump.
Thursday night record
This was the most-watched NFL package on Thursday nights since the league started it in 2006.
The 15.33 million average surpassed the 13.65 million from 2019, when the games were on Fox, NFL Network and Prime Video.
Since Prime Video started to be the exclusive home of “Thursday Night Football” in 2022, the audience has increased 60%. The first season averaged 9.58 million as audiences had to adjust to a regular package of games moving to a streaming service.
Eight games this season averaged at least 15 million viewers, compared to four the first three seasons.
The Denver Broncos’ win over the Kansas City Chiefs on Christmas night averaged 21.06 million, breaking the network’s 19.39 million mark for most-watched from the Dec. 4 game between the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions.
CBS has most-watched afternoon slate
CBS averaged 21.25 million, its best regular-season on record. The network’s national late afternoon games averaged 25.83 million, the third straight year it has defeated Fox in that window.
The Thanksgiving Day game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Dallas Cowboys averaged 57.23 million, making it the most-watched regular-season game in NFL history. According to Nielsen, the game generated 11.7 billion viewing minutes on Nov. 27 and was the top broadcast telecast of the month. By comparison, “Stranger Things” on Netflix totaled 11.8 billion viewing minutes across the entire month since it was available on demand.
CBS’ most-viewed Sunday game was what seems to be the yearly meeting between Buffalo’s Josh Allen and Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes. The Bills-Chiefs matchup on Nov. 2 averaged 30.84 million.
CBS ended up having four of the 10 most-viewed games.
Kings of primetime
NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” averaged 23.5 million viewers, putting it on pace to be the top-ranked show in primetime for the 15th straight year when the television season ends in May.
However, NBC’s two most-watched games were not on Sunday night. The NFL Kickoff game between the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles on Sept. 4 averaged 28.3 million while 27.9 million tuned in on Thanksgiving night when Joe Burrow returned to the Cincinnati Bengals lineup after a toe injury to face the Baltimore Ravens.
Eight games averaged at least 25 million. The most-watched game on Sunday night was between the Detroit Lions and Kansas City Chiefs on Oct. 12 (27.4 million).
NBC is also expected to have the most-watched show of the television season as it has the Super Bowl on Feb. 8.
Monday night momentum
“Monday Night Football” averaged 15.8 million viewers for the 21-game package, the second-highest average since it moved to ESPN in 2006. That included two games exclusively on ABC and 11 simulcasts.
Five games exceeded 20 million, the most since MNF moved to ESPN. The Detroit Lions-Baltimore Ravens matchup on Sept. 22 averaged 22.8 million, the fourth most-watched Monday night game in 20 seasons.
Including the two Week 18 Saturday games, ESPN’s average for the season increases to 16.5 million. Last Saturday night’s game between the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers for the NFC’s top seed in the playoffs drew 27.5 million, the most-watched Week 18 game across all networks.
Fox’s season
Fox Sports averaged 19.63 million, its best regular season since 2015. America’s Game of the Week in the late afternoon slot averaged 25.28 million, led by the Super Bowl 59 rematch between the Eagles and Chiefs on Sept. 14 (33.8 million). It was one of the rare instances where the network that had the previous Super Bowl also got the rematch.
Fox’s most-viewed game was on Thanksgiving Day, with the Green Bay-Detroit matchup at 47.7 million. Fox also had four of the 10 most-viewed games.
Bump for streaming packages
The NFL also continues to be a huge driver for streaming packages.
In October data, Nielsen said Peacock saw a 16% viewing increase, Paramount Plus was up 8% from September and Prime Video had a 6.4% average of TV viewing on Thursdays.
