Those who predicted the demise of the NFL may be best reconsidering, at least from a ratings standpoint. NBC ‘s 13th season of Sunday Night Football was up seven percent viewership keeping it on pace to be the number one show in primetime for a record eighth straight year.
The run has already eclipsed the six years of American Idol, and the five of The Cosby Show and All In the Family. NBC Sunday Night Football posted a Total Audience Delivery average of 19.6 million viewers in 2018 – up 7% from last year (18.4 million), according to official national live plus same day data released by Nielsen, and digital data from Adobe Analytics.2018 was SNF’s most dominant ever in average viewership (+35% advantage) and household rating (+28%) compared to primetime’s #2 show. In addition, SNF delivered nine of the 10 most-watched primetime telecasts on any network since September.