Sunday pregame show viewership is at an all-time high for both CBS and NFL Network so far this season — gaudy numbers that surely can be attributed to their new partnership on “Thursday Night Football,” right?
Not necessarily, according to executives with both CBS and NFL Network.
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NFL Network credits the continuity on “GameDay” for its increase in ratings this season.
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CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus said there may be “some residual benefits” from the exposure of “Thursday Night Football.”
“But I don’t get too worked up about CBS and Fox’s NFL pregame ratings,” he said. “Pregame ratings on CBS and Fox are, to a large extent, related to the 1 p.m. lineup of games as much as anything else.”
NFL Network executive producer Eric Weinberger shares a similar view, saying viewership growth for his network’s pregame show has more to do with the years-long continuity of the show than with the added exposure of “Thursday Night Football.”
“This partnership with CBS and the awareness that our guys are building on their pregame
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and postgame show can only help build awareness for our Sundays,” he said. “But we’ve been chipping away year over year with this core group of production and talent.”
Through seven games, pregame viewership for CBS and NFL Network are up, while pregame viewership on ESPN, Fox and NBC are down.
CBS’s “NFL Today” viewership has climbed 12 percent this season and is at its highest level after seven games since the NFL returned to the network in 1998. From noon to 1 p.m. ET, the show has averaged 3.5 million viewers. Last year, it averaged 3.1 million viewers, and the year before it averaged 3.2 million.
Fox still pulls more viewers to its “Fox NFL Sunday” pregame show, though its 4.8 million average this season is down 2 percent from last year. McManus said the NFC’s bigger markets helps the increased viewer levels for Fox’s pregame show.
NFL Network’s “GameDay Morning” has seen a 13 percent viewership increase through Week 7. From 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET, the show has averaged 590,900 viewers. Last year, it averaged 520,759 viewers, and the year before it averaged 480,103 viewers.
Through seven games, viewership for ESPN’s “Sunday NFL Countdown” is off 12 percent, averaging just under 2 million viewers.
Viewership for NBC’s “Football Night in America” has dropped 1 percent through seven games, averaging 8.3 million viewers.
Weinberger credited the stability of NFL Network’s offering for helping the show’s performance. The show largely has kept the same on-camera and behind-the-scenes talent since its 2008 launch.
“We think the awareness and familiarity with our ‘GameDay’ shows is paying off.”
He also highlighted “GameDay First,” a pregame show that launched in 2012 and starts at 7 a.m. ET.
