via press release:
NFL GAMES TWO MOST-WATCHED SHOWS OF WEEK
ESPN’s Broncos-Falcons Cable’s Most-Watched Show since January
NFL Network Posts Most-Watched Season Opener
Local Ratings Top All 30 Markets in First 2 Weeks
NFL game telecasts ranked 1-2 in viewership among all television programs last week (Sept. 10-16) with 49ers-Lions on NBC’s Sunday Night Football topping the charts with 21.3 million average viewers and the CBS national telecast (mostly Jets-Steelers) drawing 19.9 million viewers.
Broncos-Falcons on ESPN’s Monday Night Football in Week 2 drew 15.5 million viewers to rank as the most-watched show on cable since January’s BCS National Championship Game (Alabama-LSU) on ESPN.
Bears-Packers on NFL Network’s Thursday Night Football kicked off Week 2 and registered NFLN’s best-ever season-opening telecast with 8.6 million viewers.
Locally, NFL games topped the ratings in all 30 NFL markets for the second consecutive week. Following is the list of all 30 NFL markets where football was the top-rated program for the week of Sept. 10-16:
| Week of 9/10–9/16 |
HH |
HH |
RTG |
||
| Market | Game |
Date |
RTG |
SHR |
Rank |
| Milwaukee | Bears at Packers |
9/13/12 |
52.0 |
72 |
1 |
| Pittsburgh | Jets at Steelers |
9/16/12 |
45.5 |
73 |
1 |
| New Orleans | Saints at Panthers |
9/16/12 |
42.3 |
66 |
1 |
| Baltimore | Ravens at Eagles |
9/16/12 |
38.6 |
64 |
1 |
| Boston | Cardinals at Patriots |
9/16/12 |
32.9 |
63 |
1 |
| Indianapolis | Vikings at Colts |
9/16/12 |
32.8 |
57 |
1 |
| Buffalo | Chiefs at Bills |
9/16/12 |
31.7 |
59 |
1 |
| San Diego | Titans at Chargers |
9/16/12 |
31.7 |
60 |
1 |
| Detroit | Lions at 49ers |
9/16/12 |
31.3 |
46 |
1 |
| Chicago | Bears at Packers |
9/13/12 |
31.3 |
48 |
1 |
| Kansas City | Chiefs at Bills |
9/16/12 |
29.2 |
53 |
1 |
| Dallas | Cowboys at Seahawks |
9/16/12 |
28.8 |
50 |
1 |
| Philadelphia | Ravens at Eagles |
9/16/12 |
28.0 |
52 |
1 |
| Washington, DC | Redskins at Rams |
9/16/12 |
27.3 |
50 |
1 |
| Minneapolis | Vikings at Colts |
9/16/12 |
27.1 |
60 |
1 |
| Nashville | Titans at Chargers |
9/16/12 |
25.9 |
40 |
1 |
| Cincinnati | Browns at Bengals |
9/16/12 |
25.8 |
49 |
1 |
| Cleveland | Browns at Bengals |
9/16/12 |
25.0 |
51 |
1 |
| San Fran-Oakland | Lions at 49ers |
9/16/12 |
24.5 |
47 |
1 |
| Charlotte | Saints at Panthers |
9/16/12 |
24.4 |
44 |
1 |
| Seattle | Cowboys at Seahawks |
9/16/12 |
23.0 |
53 |
1 |
| Houston | Texans at Jaguars |
9/16/12 |
22.5 |
45 |
1 |
| Jacksonville | Texans at Jaguars |
9/16/12 |
22.4 |
39 |
1 |
| St. Louis | Redskins at Rams |
9/16/12 |
20.8 |
39 |
1 |
| Phoenix | Cardinals at Patriots |
9/16/12 |
18.9 |
39 |
1 |
| Tampa | Buccaneers at Giants |
9/16/12 |
18.9 |
37 |
1 |
| Denver | Jets at Steelers |
9/16/12 |
17.1 |
43 |
1 |
| Miami | Raiders at Dolphins |
9/16/12 |
16.8 |
35 |
1 |
| New York | Jets at Steelers |
9/16/12 |
16.6 |
33 |
1 |
| Atlanta | Jets at Steelers |
9/16/12 |
16.4 |
29 |
1 |
Source: NFL & The Nielsen Company
