The NFL’s annual Thanksgiving Day games continue to be among the league’s most-viewed games each season. Last year’s two games -- Dolphins-Cowboys on CBS and Packers-Lions on Fox -- were the most-viewed regular-season games, respectively. Those games also were the top two shows on all of TV during the fall season. Both networks have seen a rise in Thanksgiving ratings in recent years. Both CBS and Fox have seen their game audiences rise over the last two Thanksgivings. Last season also marked the first time a Lions game topped a Cowboys game since ’07. Both CBS and Fox will be challenged this year as NBC gets the Thanksgiving primetime game, which had aired on NFL Network in recent years. NFL Net’s 49ers-Ravens game last year remains its most-watched program ever (5.3 rating, 10.7 million viewers).
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NFL THANKSGIVING DAY GAME AUDIENCE TREND
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CBS
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YEAR
|
GAME
|
START
|
RATING
|
VIEWERS (000)
|
|
'11
|
Dolphins-Cowboys
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4:15pm
|
14.3
|
30,901
|
|
'10
|
Patriots-Lions
|
12:30pm
|
13.4
|
27,753
|
|
'09
|
Raiders-Cowboys
|
4:15pm
|
11.6
|
25,207
|
|
'08
|
Titans-Lions
|
12:30pm
|
9.7
|
18,551
|
|
'07
|
Jets-Cowboys
|
4:15pm
|
12.0
|
24,978
|
|
Fox
|
|
YEAR
|
GAME
|
START
|
RATING
|
VIEWERS (000)
|
|
'11
|
Packers-Lions
|
12:30pm
|
14.8
|
30,171
|
|
'10
|
Saints-Cowboys
|
4:30pm
|
13.9
|
31,874
|
|
'09
|
Packers-Lions
|
12:30pm
|
11.1
|
21,990
|
|
'08
|
Seahawks-Cowboys
|
4:30pm
|
10.5
|
22,711
|
|
'07
|
Packers-Lions
|
12:30pm
|
13.2
|
25,324
|
