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.
| 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 |
