via press release:
BEST NFL VIEWERSHIP FOR HOLIDAY SEASON IN TWO DECADES
WITH MORE GREAT GAMES TO COME
More than 19 million viewers/game – nearly tripling broadcast primetime
Packers-Giants on FOX most watched Sunday telecast of season
The tradition of watching NFL football during the holiday season has continued this year in record numbers. Heading into the most-watched time of the football season with upcoming matchups including Giants-Cowboys (twice), Bears-Packers, Patriots-Broncos, Steelers-49ers, Falcons-Saints and Ravens-Bengals, and with two-thirds of games within one score in the fourth quarter, fans are in for a fantastic finish.
An average of 19.3 million fans have watched games in the first two weeks of this holiday season – Week 12 (Thanksgiving week) and Week 13 – the most to kick off the holidays since 1992. In addition, the 19.3 million average is nearly three times the average of broadcast primetime (6.7 million viewers) in the same time period.
This past week (Nov. 28-Dec. 4), the FOX Sunday national telecast (mostly Packers-Giants) was the most-watched show on television drawing 29.8 million viewers – tops for any Sunday telecast this season.
Thanksgiving weekend was the most-watched NFL regular-season weekend in 18 years and featured a pair of Thanksgiving afternoon games (CBS’ Miami at Dallas and FOX’s Green Bay at Detroit) topping 30 million average viewers -- the first time both broadcast networks topped the 30-million mark on Thanksgiving Day. The Thanksgiving night Thursday Night Footballgame on NFL Network (San Francisco at Baltimore) was the most-watched cable program in Thanksgiving history and the most watched game in the eight-year history of NFLN with an average of 10.7 million viewers.
NFL games also topped local ratings in 28 of 30 NFL markets last week. Following is the list of NFL markets where football was the top-rated program last week:
| Week of 11/28–12/4 |
|
HH |
HH |
RTG |
|
| Market | Game |
Date |
RTG |
SHR |
Rank |
| New Orleans | Giants at Saints* |
11/28/11 |
61.0 |
74 |
1 |
| Milwaukee | Packers at Giants |
12/4/11 |
53.2 |
77 |
1 |
| Pittsburgh | Bengals at Steelers |
12/4/11 |
43.9 |
71 |
1 |
| Dallas | Cowboys at Cardinals |
12/4/11 |
39.0 |
59 |
1 |
| Baltimore | Ravens at Browns |
12/4/11 |
38.2 |
57 |
1 |
| Boston | Colts at Patriots |
12/4/11 |
33.6 |
65 |
1 |
| Denver | Broncos at Vikings |
12/4/11 |
33.4 |
62 |
1 |
| Minneapolis | Broncos at Vikings |
12/4/11 |
32.2 |
65 |
1 |
| Cincinnati | Bengals at Steelers |
12/4/11 |
31.7 |
56 |
1 |
| Kansas City | Chiefs at Bears |
12/4/11 |
31.7 |
55 |
1 |
| Chicago | Chiefs at Bears |
12/4/11 |
30.5 |
57 |
1 |
| Nashville | Titans at Bills |
12/4/11 |
27.3 |
44 |
1 |
| Cleveland | Ravens at Browns |
12/4/11 |
26.4 |
44 |
1 |
| Detroit | Lions at Saints |
12/4/11 |
26.4 |
37 |
1 |
| Indianapolis | Colts at Patriots |
12/4/11 |
26.2 |
46 |
1 |
| Houston | Falcons at Texans |
12/4/11 |
25.8 |
48 |
1 |
| Charlotte | Panthers at Bucs |
12/4/11 |
23.5 |
45 |
1 |
| Phoenix | Cowboys at Cardinals |
12/4/11 |
22.9 |
41 |
1 |
| New York | Packers at Giants |
12/4/11 |
21.8 |
37 |
1 |
| Seattle | Eagles at Seahawks** |
12/1/11 |
21.5 |
38 |
1 |
| Washington, DC | Jets at Redskins |
12/4/11 |
21.4 |
47 |
1 |
| Philadelphia | Eagles at Seahawks** |
12/1/11 |
20.6 |
33 |
1 |
| San Fran-Oakland | Rams at 49ers |
12/4/11 |
18.2 |
47 |
1 |
| San Diego | Packers at Giants |
12/4/11 |
18.0 |
40 |
1 |
| St. Louis | Rams at 49ers |
12/4/11 |
17.4 |
30 |
1 |
| Miami | Raiders at Dolphins |
12/4/11 |
15.7 |
34 |
1 |
| Buffalo | Packers at Giants |
12/4/11 |
15.6 |
24 |
1 |
| Tampa | Packers at Giants |
12/4/11 |
15.4 |
29 |
1 |
* Local affiliate & ESPN combined
** Local affiliate & NFLN combined
Source: NFL & The Nielsen Company
