NFL game viewership remains up 1% through Week 8, with games across all networks averaging 15.1 million viewers. NBC, CBS, ESPN and NFL Network are seeing gains to date, while Fox is lower for its Sunday afternoon windows and its first season with Thursday nights (which are simulcast on NFL Net). NBC’s “SNF” package is up 2% to through Week 8. That includes the NFL Kickoff game, which saw a double-digit percentage drop. CBS on Sunday afternoons remains up 3%, while ESPN is up 1% on Monday nights. NFL Net has had three games on its own to date -- two Thursday night games and a game from London on Sunday morning in Week 8 -- and is up 2% compared to the same mix of games last season. Meanwhile, Fox is down 3% for its Sunday afternoon windows and at its lowest mark (17.2 million viewers) at the halfway point of the season since ’08 (16.7 million viewers). While Fox’ regional windows are up and its singleheader windows are flat, the net’s four national windows are down 7% to date. Those Fox Sunday national games, however, remain the most-viewed individual windows among all NFL broadcasters. Fox, which replaced CBS and NBC as the broadcast TV partner for “TNF,” is down 10% to date for the package. Hurting viewership was the Week 7 Broncos-Cardinals blowout, which marked the lowest audience on record for an NFL game in primetime on broadcast TV. Starting in Week 10, Fox does get some better “TNF” matchups, including the Cowboys in Week 13.
|
NFL GAME VIEWERSHIP THROUGH WEEK 8
|
|
NETWORK
|
'18 (000)
|
'17 (000)
|
% +/-
|
|
NBC*
|
18,855
|
18,513
|
2%
|
|
Fox^
|
17,241
|
17,688
|
-3%
|
|
CBS
|
15,777
|
15,340
|
3%
|
|
Fox/NFL Net**
|
12,789
|
14,134
|
-10%
|
|
ESPN
|
11,255
|
11,107
|
1%
|
|
NFL Net^^
|
6,492
|
6,346
|
2%
|
NOTES: * = Includes NFL Kickoff. ^ = Sunday telecasts only. ** = Only Fox games, which include an NFL Net simulcast. Last year, CBS was "TNF" partner. ^^ = Excludes any games also airing on Fox. Includes London game on a Sunday morning.
MAKING DIGITAL STRIDES: Data from Conviva, a real-time measurement and intelligence platform for streaming TV, shows that NFL streaming growth within the U.S. is increasing more rapidly than the overall live category globally. NFL live streams in Q3 were up 72%, while viewing hours were up 83% compared to the previous year across Conviva’s customer base. NFL viewing drove major traffic as viewership accounted for 3% of total plays and 2.8% of all viewing hours in the U.S. during the weeks games were played in Q3.
