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NFL Viewership Down Across The Board Again In '17; Cowboys Lead Top Telecasts

NFL regular-season TV viewership was down 9% in '17, putting the league down just under 20% over the last two seasons. There were many predictions of a rebound for the NFL this season after the headwinds of a historic presidential election in '16, but that never came to pass. Each broadcast partner saw declines compared to '16, and each package saw a double-digit percentage decline compared to two years ago. Figures last week showed that the primetime packages in '17 were down, but still tops among all primetime shows on TV. For Sunday afternoons, Fox led the way with an average of 17.7 million viewers for its games, marking its lowest figure since 17 million viewers in '08. Fox was down 9% from last season as well, and down 15% from two years ago. But Fox is still ahead of where is was 10 years ago (17.1 million), 15 years ago (16.2 million) and even 20 years ago (15.1 million). Fox' nine Sunday afternoon national windows remain the most-viewed package on all of TV, averaging 22.7 million viewers in '17. That is down 7% from '16, but still good enough to give Fox its ninth straight year with TV's most-viewed window. Meanwhile, CBS averaged 15.7 million viewers for its Sunday afternoon games this season, which is the net's lowest figure since 15.2 million viewers in '06. The net was down 11% from last year and down 18% from two years ago. CBS' nine national windows averaged 20.1 million viewers in '17, down 8% from 21.7 million viewers last year, but still strong within the TV ecosystem.

NFL REGULAR-SEASON GAME VIEWERSHIP
NETWORK
'17
'16
1-YR % +/-
'15
2-YR % +/-
NBC ("SNF")
18,175
20,323
-11%
22,522
-19%
Fox
17,659
19,434
-9%
20,706
-15%
CBS
15,669
17,671
-11%
19,058
-18%
NBC/CBS/NFL Net ("TNF")
10,937
12,438
-12%
12,425
-12%
ESPN ("MNF")
10,757
11,390
-6%
12,896
-17%

TOP GAMES: Despite missing the playoffs, the Cowboys once again were the top draw nationally for NFL telecasts. Cowboys games accounted for six of the 10 most-viewed NFL telecasts this season. The Cowboys' best audience was their Thanksgiving game on CBS against the Chargers, which was the No. 2 telecast for the season. Taking the No. 1 spot was Patriots-Steelers in Week 15, which was featured in CBS' Sunday national window. Among the top 10 games for the season, Fox had seven games. NBC's "SNF" only had one game crack the top 10 -- Giants-Cowboys in Week 1.

MOST-VIEWED NFL GAMES FOR '17 REGULAR SEASON
DATE
WEEK
NETWORK
TELECAST
VIEWERS (000)
12/17
15
CBS
Patriots-Steelers*
26,883
11/23
12
CBS
Chargers-Cowboys^
26,277
9/17
2
Fox
Cowboys-Broncos*
25,969
11/23
12
Fox
Vikings-Lions^
24,736
9/10
1
NBC
Giants-Cowboys
24,400
10/8
5
Fox
Packers-Cowboys*
23,859
12/10
14
Fox
Eagles-Rams*
23,784
12/24
16
Fox
Seahawks-Cowboys*
23,027
9/10
1
Fox
Seahawks-Packers*
22,796
10/29
8
Fox
Cowboys-Redskins*
22,019

NOTES: * = Featured game in Sunday 4:30pm ET national window. ^ = Thanksgiving.

AROUND THE LEAGUE: The WALL STREET JOURNAL today also examines NFL viewership under the header, "NFL Ratings Fall At Faster Pace," while USA TODAY goes with "NFL Viewership Takes Heavy Hit Again In 2017."

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