via press release:
NFL GAMES RANK AS TV’S TWO MOST-WATCHED SHOWS
FOR 10TH TIME IN 11 WEEKS
Games Top Local Ratings in 28 of 30 NFL Markets
NFL games were the two most-watched shows on TV last week (Nov. 12-18) with the CBS national telecast (Indianapolis Colts-New England Patriots and San Diego Chargers-Denver Broncos) topping all sports and entertainment competition with 23.6 million viewers followed by NBC’s Sunday Night Football (Baltimore Ravens-Pittsburgh Steelers) with 18.2 million viewers.
This marks the 11th time in 11 weeks that an NFL game has topped the viewership charts and the 10th time in 11 weeks that NFL games ranked 1-2 in viewership for the week.
For the season, NFL games rank as the 17 most-watched TV shows since Labor Day. Following are the most-watched programs this fall:
| Program | Viewers |
| 1. NBC Sunday Night Football (Steelers-Broncos), 9/9 | 27.6 million |
| 2. FOX Sunday National (mostly Giants-Cowboys), 10/28 | 26.9 million |
| 3. FOX Sunday National (mostly 49ers-Packers), 9/9 | 26.4 million |
| 4. CBS Sunday National (mostly Broncos-Patriots), 10/7 | 24.5 million |
| 5. FOX Sunday National (mostly Cowboys-Eagles), 11/11 | 24.3 million |
| 6. CBS Sunday National (mostly Steelers-Giants), 11/4 | 24.2 million |
| 7. CBS Sunday National (mostly Texans-Broncos), 9/23 | 24.0 million |
| 8. NBC Wed. Night Kickoff Game (Cowboys-Giants), 9/5 | 23.9 million |
| 9. CBS Sunday National (Indy-NE & SD-Den), 11/18 | 23.6 million |
| 10. CBS Sunday National (mostly Jets-Patriots), 10/21 | 23.0 million |
| 11. FOX Sunday National (mostly Giants-49ers), 10/14 | 22.8 million |
| 12. NBC Sunday Night Football (Giants-Eagles), 9/30 | 22.8 million |
| 13. FOX Sunday National (mostly Saints-Packers), 9/30 | 22.3 million |
| 14. NBC Sunday Night Football (Cowboys-Falcons), 11/4 | 21.8 million |
| 15. NBC Sunday Night Football (Lions-49ers), 9/16 | 21.3 million |
| 16. NBC Sunday Night Football (Patriots-Ravens), 9/23 | 21.3 million |
| 17. NBC Sunday Night Football (Texans-Bears), 11/11 | 20.9 million |
| 18. CBS NCIS (Season Premiere), 9/25 | 20.5 million |
Source: NFL & The Nielsen Company
Locally, NFL games topped ratings in 28 NFL markets last week. Following is the list of NFL markets where football was the top-rated program for the week of Nov. 12-18:
| Week of 11/12-18 |
|
HH |
HH |
RTG |
|
| Market | Game |
Date |
RTG |
SHR |
Rank |
| Pittsburgh | Ravens at Steelers |
11/18/2012 |
47.5 |
66 |
1 |
| New Orleans | Saints at Raiders |
11/18/2012 |
46.4 |
66 |
1 |
| Boston | Colts at Patriots |
11/18/2012 |
43.1 |
65 |
1 |
| Milwaukee | Packers at Lions |
11/18/2012 |
42.5 |
71 |
1 |
| Baltimore | Ravens at Steelers |
11/18/2012 |
39.0 |
54 |
1 |
| Denver | Chargers at Broncos |
11/18/2012 |
36.9 |
68 |
1 |
| Indianapolis | Colts at Patriots |
11/18/2012 |
36.7 |
57 |
1 |
| Buffalo | Dolphins at Bills |
11/15/2012 |
31.1 |
45 |
1 |
| Cleveland | Browns at Cowboys |
11/18/2012 |
28.9 |
54 |
1 |
| Kansas City | Bengals at Chiefs |
11/18/2012 |
28.6 |
52 |
1 |
| San Diego | Chargers at Broncos |
11/18/2012 |
26.8 |
50 |
1 |
| Houston | Jaguars at Texans |
11/18/2012 |
26.5 |
53 |
1 |
| Dallas-Ft. Worth | Browns at Cowboys |
11/18/2012 |
26.3 |
52 |
1 |
| Cincinnati | Bengals at Chiefs |
11/18/2012 |
25.6 |
47 |
1 |
| Detroit | Packers at Lions |
11/18/2012 |
24.9 |
48 |
1 |
| Atlanta | Cardinals at Falcons |
11/18/2012 |
24.1 |
46 |
1 |
| Charlotte | Bucs at Panthers |
11/18/2012 |
23.9 |
44 |
1 |
| Washington, DC | Eagles at Redskins |
11/18/2012 |
23.3 |
48 |
1 |
| Philadelphia | Eagles at Redskins |
11/18/2012 |
22.0 |
43 |
1 |
| Minneapolis | Packers at Lions |
11/18/2012 |
21.0 |
51 |
1 |
| Jacksonville | Jaguars at Texans |
11/18/2012 |
21.6 |
35 |
1 |
| Phoenix | Cardinals at Falcons |
11/18/2012 |
18.9 |
40 |
1 |
| Nashville | Chargers at Broncos |
11/18/2012 |
18.1 |
26 |
1 |
| St. Louis | Jets at Rams |
11/18/2012 |
18.0 |
37 |
1 |
| Tampa | Bucs at Panthers |
11/18/2012 |
17.4 |
35 |
1 |
| New York | Jets at Rams +
bonus coverage |
11/18/2012 |
14.7 |
29 |
1 |
| Miami | Dolphins at Bills |
11/15/2012 |
12.3 |
19 |
1 |
| San Fran-Oakland | Ravens at Steelers |
11/18/2012 |
10.0 |
19 |
1 |
I would guess that this week (November 19th-25th), the top four TV programs will be NFL games, in this order:
(1) Green Bay @ Giants (Sunday 11/25 on NBC, 8:35 P.M. EST)
(2) New England @ Jets (Thursday 11/22 on NBC, 8:35 P.M. EST)
(3) Washington @ Dallas (Thursday 11/22 on Fox, 4:25 P.M. EST)
(4) Chicago @ San Francisco (which was this past Monday, 11/19, on ESPN; it is my understanding that the later portions of the game earned enough viewers, including broadcast station simulcasts, to put it into a position to rank fourth among all TV programs this week).
@Joseph
I would guess
Please, don’t, you’re so awful at it!
Monday Night Football will not finish in the top five NFL games this week.
Top five will be FOX Thursday, CBS Thursday, NBC Thursday, FOX Sunday National, NBC Sunday Night.
The game Colts-Patriots was most watched only on Boston?
When I heard I understood was the most watched game of the year and the 3rd in NFL history.Where do I get this wrong?
the NFL is king………
nfl is on broadcast tv……college football playoffs will be on cable tv announced today by ESPN. nfl rules.