Traditional NFL TV Packages Down 6-10% Despite Post-Election Audience Rebound

Each NFL TV partner saw viewership declines during the '16 regular season, the first time that has happened in the last 16 years. ESPN's "Monday Night Football" saw the sharpest drop (-12%) of all packages, followed by NBC's "SNF" (-10%). CBS saw its Sunday game audience decline 7%, while Fox was down 6%. The combination of CBS, NBC and NFL Network delivered a "TNF" audience that was essentially flat with '15. This year's election appeared to be the primary culprit for the audience drops, as most networks saw their viewership somewhat rebound in the weeks following the Nov. 8 election. Through the midpoint of the season, the primetime packages were seeing declines near 20%, but each of those packages benefited from better audience figures in November and December. ESPN for its 17 telecasts averaged 11.4 million viewers, which is the lowest "MNF" figure since '07, when the net averaged 11.2 million viewers. This year's average is down 12% from last season. The Lions-Cowboys "MNF" finale -- the net's lone Cowboys game this season -- helped ESPN avoid a new low for season-long "MNF" viewership. But "MNF" is likely to finish as cable TV's No. 2 program, behind "The Walking Dead." The program also won primetime among all nets 12 times in 16 weeks. "MNF" saw new streaming records in '16 on WatchESPN. Norfolk was ESPN's top market for "MNF" during the season.

NIGHT SWEATS: NBC finished the season averaging 20.3 million viewers for "SNF," marking its lowest figure since '09. The net's package, which included the NFL Kickoff game and Thanksgiving night Steelers-Colts game, was down from last year's record-setting 22.5 million viewers. "SNF" viewership did rebound 11% after the election, going from 19.3 million viewers before Nov. 13 to 21.5 million viewers for games from that date forward. While "SNF" viewership took a double-digit percentage hit in '16, the program will still rank as primetime TV's No. 1 show for the sixth straight season. That streak ties a record set by Fox' "American Idol" (figures date back to '50). "SNF" viewership (based on live+same-day figures) even topped CBS' "Big Bang Theory" when that scripted show's live+7 data is used. "SNF" also was the No. 1 show among adults 18-49 in the fall, topping the No. 2 program -- AMC's "The Walking Dead" -- by 25%. Denver was the top "SNF" market for the third straight season.

FALL OUT BOYS: While many nets saw rebounds after the election, Fox' game numbers actually slipped a little. The net's NFL game viewership was down 4% through the midpoint of the season, but ended up down 6% for the season. The net averaged 19.4 million viewers for all of its games in '16, which is Fox' lowest average since '09 (19.1 million viewers). Fox had to contend with many issues faced by other nets, but also had the return of the NFL to the L.A. market. The Rams saw poor numbers in L.A. during their first season back in SoCal compared to what they averaged in the St. Louis market last season. Fox' national windows (nine telecasts) averaged 24.6 million viewers, also down 9%, but was still the most-viewed program on TV for the eighth straight year. Meanwhile, CBS averaged 17.7 million viewers this season (excludes "TNF" package), its lowest average since '12. CBS was down 7% through the midpoint of the season and finished with the same decline for the complete 17-week schedule. CBS' national windows averaged 21.7 million viewers, down 11% from 24.5 million viewers last season.

SPLIT DECISIONS: The NFL expanded the broadcast TV portion of "Thursday Night Football" this season, giving five games a piece to CBS and NBC. CBS had eight games in the prior two seasons. For 17 "TNF" telecasts this season across NBC, CBS and NFL Net, the package averaged 12.4 million viewers, essentially flat compared to last season's combined average for games on CBS and NFL Net and up from 11.8 million viewers in '14. Like in previous years, the "TNF" average includes games branded as such that aired on select Saturdays and Sundays on NFL Net. Ravens-Steelers on Christmas Day helped the package, as NFL Net saw a new audience record with 14.8 million viewers for the game. Cowboys-Vikings on NBC on Dec. 1 also was a boost, marking the best "TNF" audience since the package began. All figures for "TNF" this season exclude any streaming figures on Twitter.

ACROSS THE POND: Fox on Oct. 30 drew 8.75 million viewers for its Redskins-Bengals telecast from London, which aired at 9:30am ET. That figure was up 4% from 8.42 million viewers for the net's Lions-Chiefs last year from London. CBS on Oct. 3 drew 7.693 million viewers for Colts-Jaguars from London, down 22% from 9.856 million viewers for Jets-Dolphins last season. NFL Net also had a London game this season, drawing 3.7 million viewers for Giants-Rams on Oct. 23. The third London game last season was streamed on Yahoo. Viewership for London games are excluded from Fox, CBS and NFL Net figures listed above.

JERRY'S WORLD: The Cowboys again were the top draw for NFL game windows, accounting for five of the six most-viewed games this season. Redskins-Cowboys on Thanksgiving led the way with 35.1 million viewers, followed by the Week 10 national window on Fox, which featured Cowboys-Steelers (28.9 million viewers). Fox had six of the 10 most-viewed windows, while CBS and NBC had two a piece.