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NFL Playoffs, London Olympics Dominate List Of Most-Watched TV Sports Telecasts In '12
Published December 20, 2012
Last season’s NFL Playoffs and the London Games dominated the list of the most-viewed sports telecasts in ’12. A combination of the NFL and Olympics gave NBC 16 of the top 25 spots this year. The top five spots belong to the NFL postseason, with NBC's Giants-Patriots matchup in Super Bowl XLVI topping all TV telecasts with a 47.0 rating and 111.3 million viewers. The Opening Ceremony was the most-viewed night of the London Games with a 21.0 rating and 40.7 million viewers, which ranks No. 6 overall. Only two regular-season games from the '12 season cracked the top 25 -- Fox' Redskins-Cowboys Thanksgiving day game (28.7 million viewers) and NBC's Steelers-Broncos "Sunday Night Football" from Week 1 (27.6 million viewers). The top sports telecast on cable TV this year -- ESPN's Alabama-LSU BCS National Championship -- would not have cracked the top 25 on broadcast TV.
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|
MOST-VIEWED SPORTS TELECASTS ON BROADCAST TV
(THROUGH DEC. 17) |
|||||
|
RK
|
DATE
|
PROGRAM |
NET
|
RAT.
|
VIEWERS (000)
|
|
1
|
2/5
|
Super Bowl XLVI: Giants-Patriots |
NBC
|
47.0
|
111,346
|
|
2
|
1/22
|
AFC Championship: Patriots-Ravens |
CBS
|
30.6
|
57,635
|
|
3
|
1/22
|
NFC Championship: Giants-49ers |
Fox
|
27.4
|
48,676
|
|
4
|
1/15
|
NFC Divisional Playoff: Giants-Packers |
Fox
|
25.3
|
45,100
|
|
5
|
1/8
|
AFC Wild Card: Broncos-Steelers |
CBS
|
24.0
|
42,371
|
|
6
|
7/27
|
London Olympics: Opening Ceremony |
NBC
|
21.0
|
40,651
|
|
7
|
7/31
|
London Olympics: Night 5 |
NBC
|
21.0
|
38,719
|
|
8
|
8/2
|
London Olympics: Night 7 |
NBC
|
21.8
|
36,799
|
|
9
|
7/29
|
London Olympics: Night 3 |
NBC
|
21.1
|
36,047
|
|
10
|
1/14
|
NFC Divisional Playoff: 49ers-Saints |
Fox
|
20.5
|
35,600
|
|
11
|
1/14
|
AFC Divisional Playoff: Patriots-Broncos |
CBS
|
18.5
|
34,161
|
|
12
|
1/7
|
NFC Wild Card: Saints-Lions |
NBC
|
18.2
|
31,780
|
|
13
|
7/30
|
London Olympics: Night 4 |
NBC
|
19.8
|
31,582
|
|
14
|
8/5
|
London Olympics: Night 10 |
NBC
|
18.0
|
31,262
|
|
15
|
8/12
|
London Olympics: Closing Ceremony |
NBC
|
17.5
|
31,011
|
|
16
|
1/15
|
AFC Divisional Playoff: Ravens-Texans |
CBS
|
19.0
|
30,983
|
|
17
|
8/1
|
London Olympics: Night 6 |
NBC
|
17.0
|
30,804
|
|
18
|
8/7
|
London Olympics: Night 12 |
NBC
|
17.9
|
30,146
|
|
19
|
8/8
|
London Olympics: Night 13 |
NBC
|
17.6
|
29,093
|
|
20
|
7/28
|
London Olympics: Night 2 |
NBC
|
16.8
|
28,715
|
|
21
|
11/22
|
"NFL on Fox": Redskins-Cowboys (Thanksgiving) |
Fox
|
13.5
|
28,700
|
|
22
|
8/3
|
London Olympics: Night 8 |
NBC
|
15.8
|
28,508
|
|
23
|
8/4
|
London Olympics: Night 9 |
NBC
|
16.2
|
27,964
|
|
24
|
1/8
|
NFC Wild Card: Giants-Falcons |
Fox
|
17.3
|
27,700
|
|
25
|
9/9
|
"Sunday Night Football": Steelers-Broncos |
NBC
|
16.5
|
27,567
|
