Fox had an up-and-down first season with “Thursday Night Football,” but finished up 2% from what NBC and CBS combined to draw last season with the package. Fox and NFL Network averaged 14.3 million viewers for 11 games, up from 14.1 million last year when CBS had five games and NBC had six -- including a 4:30pm ET game on Christmas Day. Fox’ low point this season was 9.1 million viewers for Broncos-Cardinals in Week 7, which marked the lowest audience all-time for an NFL game on broadcast TV. It then bounced back to draw 21.4 million viewers for Saints-Cowboys in Week 13, which is the second-best “TNF” audience since the package started in ’06. Two seasons ago, CBS and NBC combined to average 15.9 million viewers for 10 “TNF” telecasts.
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MOST-WATCHED "TNF" GAMES SINCE PACKAGE STARTED IN '06
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DATE
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WEEK
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NET(S)
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MATCHUP
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VIEWERS (000)
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12/01/16
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13
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NBC/NFL Net
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Cowboys-Vikings
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21,760
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11/29/18
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13
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Fox/NFL Net
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Saints-Cowboys
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21,394
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09/17/15
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2
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CBS/NFL Net
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Broncos-Chiefs
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21,117
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09/11/14
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2
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CBS/NFL Net
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Steelers-Ravens
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20,771
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10/23/14
|
8
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CBS/NFL Net
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Chargers-Broncos
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20,216
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SWEET 15: CBS finished with the fourth-best NFL audience for the ’18 season to date in the Week 15 national window on Sunday, which featured Patriots-Steelers (24.6 million viewers). That telecast is behind only the two Thanksgiving day games and Fox’ Eagles-Cowboys on Dec. 9. Over on Fox, the net drew the NFL’s best singleheader window of the season in Week 15, averaging 20.0 million viewers for a window featuring Cowboys-Colts. Meanwhile, “Fox NFL Kickoff” in the 11:00am-12:00pm continues to gain ground on ESPN’s “Sunday NFL Countdown” in the same window. After Fox won the window in ’17, “Countdown” has maintained a lead so far this season. “Kickoff” is averaging 1.3 million viewers to date.
