The NFLâs three primetime game packages saw another round of declines during the â17 regular season, including a multiyear low for "Thursday Night Football," a record-low audience for "Monday Night Football" and the lowest figure for "Sunday Night Football" in a decade. These results were a surprise to both network and league execs, both of whom expected better viewership coming off of the over-heated presidential race last year.
NBC averaged 18.2 million viewers for its âSNFâ games, marking the package's lowest figure since â08, when it averaged 16.6 million viewers. This year also is down 11% from '16, and down 19% from two seasons ago. But while âSNFâ was down again, it has actually increased its lead over other entertainment and scripted TV shows in primetime.
In its 12th year with the âSNFâ package, NBC had its widest margin of victory of those shows. âSNFâ viewership was 30% higher than the most-viewed scripted show -- CBSâ âBig Bang Theoryâ -- and 40% better than the second-best scripted show -- CBSâ âNCIS.â âSNFâ also remains on pace to be the most-viewed primetime show for the seventh straight year, which would be a record for all of TV dating back to â50. Eight of the top 10 most-viewed primetime TV programs in the fall were âSNFâ games (World Series Games 6 and 7 were the other two). As recently as two to three years ago, there was much talk about AMCâs âThe Walking Deadâ challenging âSNFâ among adults 18-49. But for the fall, âSNFâ finished 61% higher in the demo compared to the Sunday night zombie show. This will be the 10th straight season that âSNFâ has won the 18-49 demo. When factoring in streaming on NBC Sports Digital properties, âSNFâ viewership jumps to 18.4 million viewers, a figure that might increase next season with NBC acquiring rights to stream games to mobile devices.
LAST CALL: After being up for most of â17, a weak finish to the regular season led ESPN to the least-viewed âMNFâ slate on record. The netâs games averaged 10.8 million viewers, beneath the previous low of 11.2 million viewers in â07. âMNFâ was down 6% from â16, and down 17% from two years ago. ESPN won primetime on all of TV for 10 of its 16 game nights (including one tie). For the fall season, "MNF" was again the No. 1 show on cable TV, ahead of "The Walking Dead" and HBO's "Game of Thrones." ESPN also saw 29% growth in game streaming this year, and like NBC, will have the ability to stream games to mobile devices for the â18 season.
SPREAD OPTION: The âTNFâ package averaged 10.9 million viewers in â17 across NBC, CBS and NFL Network. That package included 13 Thursday night games, as well as one Sunday morning game, two Saturday afternoons, one Saturday night and a Christmas Day game (on a Monday afternoon). That average of 10.9 million viewers was the lowest âTNFâ figure since broadcast networks became partners in the package in â14. âTNFâ viewership was down 12% from both â16 and â15. While down from recent years, the portion of "TNF" that airs on NBC and CBS has established itself as a top five primetime TV property.
WHOâS THE BOSS? Milwaukee in â17 was the top-rated market for âSNFâ games for the first time since â12. New Orleans and Richmond tied for No. 2, with Denver and Seattle-Tacoma rounding out the top five. Denver led âSNFâ from â14-16. Meanwhile, New Orleans was the top âMNFâ market in â17, followed by Norfolk, Richmond, San Diego and Philadelphia.
