With results for ESPN’s Monday Night Football doubleheader yet to be tabulated, the NFL has kicked off its centennial season with solid ratings results. Despite New England’s 33-3 blowout of Pittsburgh on Sunday Night Football, NBC Sports scored a Total Audience Delivery of 22.7 million viewers across the broadcast network, NBC Sports Digital and NFL Digital platforms. The most-lopsided SNF opener was up a tick from the 22.6 million TAD audience for Green Bay/Chicago a year ago, when Packers’ QB Aaron Rodgers overcame an injury and a 17-point halftime deficit to post a 24-23 victory. Coupled with this year’s Packers/Bears game on Sept. 5 that began the league’s 100th season with a TAD audience of 22.7 million viewers, up 8% from Philadelphia/Atlanta in 2018, NBC Sports registered advances with both of its opening games for the first time since 2015.
FOX scored with its doubleheader window, despite Dallas drubbing the New York Giants. America’s Game of the Week notched a 15.9 rating/32 share in metered markets, up 3% from a 15.5 rating/30 share with the corresponding window in 2018. FOX Sports officials project the game will mark the network’s top telecast since the NFC championship game when final numbers are tallied and its best metered market performance for an opening week national game since 2016.
CBS, which was in regional mode, averaged a 10.2 overnight rating in the 1p window with two mostly two one-sided affairs, Kansas City/Jacksonville and Tennessee/Cleveland. That was down 4% from a 10.6 last year, which was highlighted by New England/Jacksonville.
