NFL TV ratings continue to climb

Posted by Michael David Smith on January 11, 2016, 12:56 PM EST
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The NFL’s television ratings show no sign of slowing down.

The cumulative rating for wild card weekend was up from last year, with three of the four games having ratings increases over the game in the same time slot a year ago:

Chiefs-Texans got a 16.2 overnight rating on ESPN and ABC on Saturday afternoon, up from a 13.1 overnight rating on ESPN only for Cardinals-Panthers on Saturday afternoon last year.

Steelers-Bengals got a 19.2 overnight rating on CBS on Saturday night, up from a 17.3 overnight rating on NBC for Ravens-Steelers on Saturday night last year.

Seahawks-Vikings got a 22.5 overnight rating on NBC on Sunday early afternoon, up from an 18.0 overnight rating on CBS for Bengals-Colts on Sunday early afternoon last year.

Packers-Washington got a 23.6 overnight rating on FOX on Sunday late afternoon, down from a 25.0 overnight rating on FOX for Cowboys-Lions on Sunday late afternoon last year.

The NFL’s TV ratings were also up for the regular season, with NBC, CBS and FOX all seeing increases on their Sunday packages, and CBS and NFL Network also seeing an increase on Thursday nights. Of the league’s five TV packages, only ESPN’s Monday Night Football was down.

Despite predictions about the NFL facing a drop in popularity because of concussions, domestic violence or other issues, that has so far not been realized. More people are watching pro football than ever before.

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37 responses to “NFL TV ratings continue to climb”

  1. That’s because with all the bad calls, questionable league office, alledged scandals & player crimes, this league is STILL head & shoulders ahead of all others. I expect the NFL train to keep churning for a long time.

  4. And yet the game itself continues to decline.

    They need to do more to protect the integrity of the game itself, and care less about the off the field bs. It starts with the officiating, when both teams fans have a legitimate argument of why they got screwed, the only people who screwed up is the refs. The gray area really leaves the door open for thoughts of fixed outcomes.

  7. …..I keep watching & I gotta admit I find the penalty flags & the massive delays in the game to rerun a controversial play really annoying. I can’t watch a whole game anymore…..but the NFL still has me watching at least a quarter or two. They still have me……but barely.

  8. And this is why owners love Goodell, at least when he translates the ratings into bigger TV revenues. He’s not going anywhere.

  9. Not surprising. With the exception of Dallas/Detroit, that first round was horrible last year.

  10. It is no surprise that MNF games are down, since they are almost always the worst game of the week.

  11. Ratings pretty much all the NFL cares about. A lot of people tuned in for terrible football this weekend. Sucks to watch the officials dictate the out come of these games instead of the players.

  12. Shows that Dallas is still America’s team. Even though they suck and will suck till they get a real GM and coach!

  14. That Steelers vs Bengals game was an instant classic. I’ve seen a lot of football in my time, but that had all the emotion you could ever ask for in gladiator sports. The highs and lows. The stupidity and the outright cheating to win. Did you see the foot stepping incident? A Bengal steps on a Steeler’s foot. The Steeler steps back on the Bengals foot. The Bengal gets upset and shoves the Steeler, and the Steeler gets the penalty.

    Oh, and lets not forget Joey Porter coming out onto the field to stir things up and help win the game. He knew exactly how to get under the skin of the Bengals. Good stuff. Cheating with class by both teams.

  15. I’ll be honest.. The Chiefs Texans game is literally the only time I’ve tuned into ABC all year long. CBS, Fox, ESPN, and NFL Network host games. When I saw the game was on ABC, I was like “What the heck! ABC doesn’t show football.”

  20. Multi billion dollar industry yet they STILL claim they cannot afford stadiums and demand that the taxpayers give them a free stadium. Oh, and said stadium must be luxurious with the finest leather and 24 karat gold rails. 14 karat simply won’t do.

  22. “Of the league’s five TV packages, only ESPN’s Monday Night Football was down.”

    Beyond the fact that of the last 8 games on the MNF schedule only 1 featured 2 teams with winning records at the time going head to head bspn’s coverage is just God awful

  24. “Of the league’s five TV packages, only ESPN’s Monday Night Football was down.”

    Considering how Disney methodically bleeds people of their money, it’s a head-scratcher why they don’t move or simulcast MNF on ABC, completely own Monday night ratings, and rake in the bucks from advertisers.

    Because, really, does the Bachelor or Bachelorette kill NBC, FOX and CBS in the ratings? I have my doubts…

  26. TV viewership is up because people would rather stay home watch the game then when it gets boring turn on reruns of Gunsmoke…And you don’t need to eat $5.00 hotdogs and $8.00 beers…

  29. “The NFL is like Nickelback, seemingly the worse the product gets, the more popular it gets.”

    In other words, my team didn’t make the playoffs.

  30. This is just a symptom of how terrible everything else on TV is these days. If it’s not reruns, it’s nighttime soap operas dressed up as science fiction. In the NFL, at least there aren’t any reruns, and you’re guaranteed something exciting will happen once or twice every game.


  31. cowboysallday says:
    Jan 11, 2016 1:49 PM

    I can’t believe people actually watched the chiefs-texans game.

    It is perplexing. I watched up until the Texans punted from KCs 40 on their first second half possession.

    That’s also when the ratings peaked, which means people started dropping it. I suspect a lot of the metered people just left their TV on after that, too.

    It’s a bit insulting to the American people to suggest we’re enraptured with a 30-0 game.

  32. kane337 says

    The ratings will be hire (sic) when the Los Angeles Rams start playing.
    =============================

    with this as an example of the fan base, of course.

    WWE, the Bengal / Steeler game was a wrestling show, Burfinct played the Iron Sheik,
    Steeler coaches on the field, probably should have brought a chair,
    all we needed was Randy Savage’s wife as a cheerleader.

    My oh my, what has happened to the game?

  33. The Seahawks are a good draw, otherwise the vikings would be the lowest rated game of the weekend.

    Naturally the best game had the highest ratings. NBC should do well this weekend.

  35. relggigeht says:
    Jan 11, 2016 2:26 PM
    “The NFL is like Nickelback, seemingly the worse the product gets, the more popular it gets.”

    In other words, my team didn’t make the playoffs.
    ________________________________________

    If the Bucs made the playoffs the product would be even worse. The NFL product is the poorest it’s ever been. The NFL is just lucky the majority of its fans are borderline gambling addicts too otherwise the league would be finished.

  36. bobnelsonjr says:

    The Seahawks are a good draw, otherwise the vikings would be the lowest rated game of the weekend.

    Naturally the best game had the highest ratings. NBC should do well this weekend.
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

    You wish…

    The Packer game was in the premier spot and was the only game that had worse ratings than last year. Down 1.4 from last year when it was the Cowboys and the Lions.

    The best game was in MN – cleanly played and tightest score. Ratings up 4.5 over the Bengals and the Colts.

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