NBC, CBS Seeing Viewer Gains Through NFL Week 13, While Fox, ESPN Look To Close Gap

As the NFL turns toward the final four weeks of the season, NBC remains on pace to easily break its “SNF” viewership record, while CBS is up for both its Sunday afternoon and Thursday night packages. After a slow start to the season, Fox has closed the gap with the ’14 season, down only slightly compared to the same point last year. On cable TV, ESPN’s “MNF” viewership remains down some, while NFL Network’s “TNF” games -- those not also airing on CBS -- are relatively flat compared to the same period in ’14.

CHART NOTES: NBC's figures include Kickoff and Thanksgiving games. CBS' Sunday average is separated from its "TNF average. The CBS/NFL Net figure is an aggregate of the net's viewership. The figure listed for NFL Net alone is for the three games airing solely on the net to date this season, compared to four games at the same point in '14.

EYE IN THE SKY: CBS finished its second season with an eight-game slate of “TNF” telecasts -- all of which were simulcast on NFL Network -- with a combined average of 17.6 million viewers. That figure is up 9% from CBS/NFL Net’s debut effort in ’14, which drew 16.1 million viewers for a string of lopsided scores. This season also saw CBS finish its slate in Week 13 on a Thursday night, whereas in ’14, the net finished in Week 16 on a Saturday night. Meanwhile, CBS’ Sunday afternoon games are averaging 19.3 million viewers, which is the best figure through Week 13 for the traditional AFC package since ’87 (as far back as records go). CBS also has drawn 25.2 million viewers for its national windows on Sundays afternoons, down 2% from 25.7 million last year.

FEAR NOT THE WALKING DEAD: NBC, which had its lowest NFL game audience since ’09 last season, is on pace to shatter its record audience for “SNF” -- 21.8 million viewers per game in '10. Through Week 13, the net is averaging 23.0 million viewers, up 8% from the same point last season. Only four of its 15 telecasts have drawn fewer than 20 million viewers. While much was made of competition with AMC’s “The Walking Dead” last season, “SNF” has outdrawn the show by a wide margin this season. No episode of the AMC show has drawn above 15 million viewers this season to date. NBC’s least-viewed “SNF” game -- Bengals-Cardinals on Nov. 22 -- still drew around 5 million viewers more than “The Walking Dead.” “SNF” also remains on pace to be TV’s most-viewed primetime show once again.

SOME WORK TO DO: Fox has made gains in recent weeks with its NFL viewership, which is down only 1%. The net’s national windows on Sundays are averaging 27.3 million viewers, up 2% from 26.8 million last season. Over on ESPN, “MNF” viewership is down 2% to date. “MNF” was also down 2% last season. But the net has won Monday nights among all viewers in 11 of 13 weeks, and has won each week among all key male demos. NFL Network, which has the remainder of the “TNF” schedule, is flat right now at 7.6 million viewers. But that has not affected the overall “TNF” package, with all games across CBS and NFL Net averaging 15.2 million viewers, up 13% from 13.4 million last year.

TAILGATE PARTIES: Through Week 13, “Fox NFL Sunday” is averaging 5.2 million viewers, up 6% from 4.9 million last year. The net drew 5.8 million viewers for a special broadcast from Pearl Harbor this past Sunday. Meanwhile, the net’s “Fox NFL Kickoff,” which moved over from FS1 this season, is averaging 1.1 million viewers in the 11:00am-12:00pm ET window. Pearl Harbor also was a boost for the show, drawing 1.8 million viewers. Meanwhile, CBS’ “The NFL Today” is averaging 4.1 million viewers, up 5% from 3.9 million through Week 13 last season and the best for the show since CBS reacquired NFL rights 18 years ago (’98). Over on NBC, “Football Night in America” from 7:30-8:15pm is averaging 9.0 million viewers leading into “SNF,” marking the show’s best figure on record and up 10% from last year at this time (8.3 million viewers). ESPN is seeing a slight decline for both "Sunday NFL Countdown" and "Monday Night Countdown." The Sunday show, which was trimmed from three to two hours, is averaging 1.67 million viewers, while the Monday show is averaging 1.96 million viewers. ESPN this season took the former 10:00-11:00pm window of "Sunday NFL Countdown" and gave it to "Sunday NFL Insiders." The program in its first season is averaging 1.21 million viewers. Both Sunday morning shows also ran up against two NFL games from London. Removing those two weeks, and "Sunday NFL Countdown" moves up to an average of 1.78 million viewers, while "Sunday NFL Insiders" moves up to 1.3 million viewers.