The NFL saw a significant increase in its TV ratings for Week 12.
On Thanksgiving, all three games had more viewers this year than last year. The early game in Detroit was up 7 percent from last year, the late afternoon game in Dallas was up 16 percent from last year, and the prime time game was up 28 percent from last year.
On Monday night, ESPN got 18 percent more viewers than Week 12 last year. On Sunday night, NBC got 8 percent more viewers than last year.
The only one of the NFL’s eight broadcast windows that wasn’t up from Week 12 last year was the afternoon game on FOX, which was down 5 percent. FOX’s loss was CBS’s gain, with the early game on CBS increasing in viewership by 26 percent from last year, and the late afternoon game on CBS increasing in total viewership by 19 percent from last year.
The NFL is now comfortably ahead of where it was last year, and the stories about the league’s TV ratings decline are starting to feel like a distant memory.