FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, December 20th, 2016

NBC’S “SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL” CONTINUES DOMINANCE – PACING FOR RECORD 6TH CONSECUTIVE YEAR AS PRIMETIME TV’S #1 SHOW

Buccaneers-Cowboys on NBC’s SNF Averages 24.1 Million Viewers – 9th NBC NFL Telecast to Top 20 Million Viewers, Doubling All Other Networks Combined in Primetime This Season

NBC/NFL Network Thursday Night Football Ranks #2 Among Primetime Shows This Fall (Behind Only SNF)

NBC’s SNF & NBC/NFLN TNF Are Only Primetime Shows Averaging 10.0+ US HH Rating & 5.0+ Rating among Adults 18-49

NBC is Home to 30 of Top 50 Primetime Telecasts of 2016 – Including 14 NFL Games & 15 Rio Olympics Telecasts

NBC Sports Digital’s Live SNF Streaming To Date Already Tops All Prior Full Seasons of NFL Games on NBC

STAMFORD, Conn. – December 20, 2016 – With two games remaining this season, NBC’s Sunday Night Football is on pace to continue its decade-long primetime TV dominance. Among the highlights:

  • For the sixth consecutive season, NBC’s Sunday Night Football is pacing to finish as television’s #1 primetime TV show – joining American Idol as the only programs since 1950 with a six-year run at #1 (Nielsen Live + Same Day Data).

Most Consecutive Years, #1 Ranked Show in Primetime, Since 1950

         6 years in a row – Sunday Night Football (2011-12 through 2016-17; on pace)

         6 years in a rowAmerican Idol (2005-06 through 2010-11)

         5 years in a rowThe Cosby Show (1985-86 through 1989-90)…tied Cheers in ‘89-90

         5 years in a rowAll in the Family (1971-72 through 1975-76)

         4 years in a rowGunsmoke (1957-58 through 1960-61)

  • NBC’s Sunday Night Football again ranks #1 among primetime shows this season in average viewership, household rating, and the advertiser-coveted Adult 18-49 demographic, easily beating its competitors (charts below; Nielsen Live + Same Day Data, Excluding Repeats, 9/8/16-12/18/16).
  • In each of its 11 seasons (2006-16), Sunday Night Football has averaged at least a 10.0 U.S. household rating (11.4 this season) and a 0 rating in the key Adult 18-49 demographic (7.0 this season). Among other primetime shows, only American Idol and Grey’s Anatomy have posted a 10.0 HH rating and a 5.0 demo rating more than twice in that 11-year stretch, and neither has done so since 2011. Other than SNF, the NBC/NFL Network TNF series is the only other primetime show this fall reaching those numbers (10.0 HH rating/5.2 Adult 18-49). (Nielsen Live + Same Day Data, 9/8/16-12/18/16; Excludes Pre- and Post-Game Shows)
  • With an average of 24.1 million viewers for the NBC-only Sunday Night Football broadcast of Buccaneers-Cowboys – NBC has nine primetime NFL telecasts with at least 20 million viewers this fall, more than doubling the primetime total of all other networks combined (4) (chart below; Nielsen Live + Same Day Data, 9/8/16-12/18/16).
  • NBC/NFL Network’s Thursday Night Football, featuring the SNF team of Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth in the booth, with Executive Producer Fred Gaudelli and director Drew Esocoff in the truck, ranks as primetime TV’s #2 show this fall with an average of 16.8 million viewers – a 14% increase over CBS/NFLN early-season TNF games (14.7 million) (Nielsen Live + Same Day Data).
  • NBC’s Sunday night Football Night in America is pacing to continue as sports’ most-watched weekly studio show for the 11th consecutive year – a streak which began in FNIA’s 2006 debut season.
  • Led by its NFL and 2016 Rio Olympics coverage, NBC has dominated primetime this year posting 30 of the 50 most watched shows of 2016 – more than all of the other networks combined (chart below; Nielsen Live + Same Day Data, 12/28/15-12/18/16).
  • NBC Sports Digital has already set a season SNF record with 577 million live streaming minutes across NBCSports.com, the NBC Sports app, and NFL Mobile from Verizon. The 577 million minutes total to date already exceeds all prior full seasons of NFL games on NBC, which included playoff games and two Super Bowls.

CHARTS

Primetime Television’s Most-Watched & Highest-Rated Series, Fall 2016

Average Viewership

Series Avg Viewership
NBC Sunday Night Football 20.1 million
NBC/NFLN Thursday Night Football 16.8 million
NCIS 14.9 million
CBS/NFLN Thursday Night Football 14.7 million
Big Bang Theory 14.6 million

U.S. Household Rating

Series U.S. HH Rtg
NBC Sunday Night Football 11.4
NBC/NFLN Thursday Night Football 10.0
NCIS 9.1
CBS/NFLN Thursday Night Football 8.9
Big Bang Theory 8.8

Adult 18-49 Rating

Series Adult 18-49 Rg
NBC Sunday Night Football 7.0
The Walking Dead 5.6
NBC/NFLN Thursday Night Football 5.2
CBS/NFLN Thursday Night Football 4.9
Monday Night Football 3.8

Source: Nielsen Live + Same Day Data, 9/8-12/18/16; Excludes Pre- & Post-game Shows

Fall 2016 Primetime Shows with 20 Million Viewers

The Buccaneers-Cowboys average of 24.1 million TV-only viewers on NBC’s Sunday Night Football is the ninth NBC NFL telecast (8 SNF, 1 TNF) to average at least 20 million viewers this fall – more than doubling the primetime total of all other networks combined (4). Following are the programs topping 20 million primetime viewers this fall:

Program Telecasts with 20M Viewers
NBC Sunday Night Football 8
World Series 3
NBC/NFLN Thursday Night Football 1
60 Minutes 1

Top 50 Primetime Telecasts in 2016

 

Rank Network Show, Date Average Viewership
1 CBS Super Bowl 50, 2/7 111.9 million
2 FOX NFC Championship, 1/24 45.7 million
3 FOX World Series, 11/2 40.0 million
4 ABC Academy Awards, 2/28 34.4 million
5 NBC NFC Divisional Playoff, 1/16 33.7 million
6 NBC Rio Olympics, 8/9 33.4 million
7 CBS AFC Wild Card Playoff, 1/9 31.23 million
8 NBC Rio Olympics, 8/11 31.22 million
9 ABC NBA Finals, 6/19 31.0 million
10 NBC Rio Olympics, 8/7 29.8 million
11 NBC Rio Olympics, 8/8 28.9 million
12 NBC Rio Olympics, 8/14 26.7 million
13 NBC Sunday Night Football, 12/11 26.50 million
14 NBC Rio Olympics, 8/5 26.49 million
15 NBC Rio Olympics, 8/10 26.4 million
16 ESPN College Football Champ., 1/11 25.7 million
17 NBC Rio Olympics, 8/13 25.5 million
18 NBC Sunday Night Football, 9/8 25.2 million
19 CBS Grammy Awards, 2/15 24.9 million
20 NBC Sunday Night Football, 1/3 24.3 million
21 NBC Rio Olympics, 8/15 24.2 million
22 NBC Sunday Night Football, 12/18 24.15 million
23 NBC Rio Olympics, 8/16 24.14 million
24 NBC Rio Olympics, 8/12 24.0 million
25 FOX World Series, 10/30 23.6 million
26 FOX World Series, 11/1 23.4 million
27 NBC Sunday Night Football, 9/11 23.1 million
28 NBC Sunday Night Football, 9/18 22.8 million
29 NBC Sunday Night Football, 11/13 22.5 million
30 NBC Thursday Night Football, 12/1 21.8 million*                 
31 NBC Rio Olympics, 8/18 21.7 million
32 NBC Sunday Night Football, 11/24 20.9 million
33 ABC NBA Finals, 6/16 20.70 million
34 NBC Rio Olympics, 8/17 20.68 million
35 NBC Rio Olympics, 8/6 20.63 million
36 CBS 60 Minutes, 1/17 20.624 million
37 NBC Sunday Night Football, 9/25 20.617 million
38 CBS Late Show (Super Bowl), 2/7 20.55 million
39 ABC NBA Finals, 6/13 20.53 million
40 CBS 60 Minutes, 11/13 20.2 million
41 NBC Rio Olympics, 8/19 20.1 million
42 FOX World Series, 10/28 19.38 million
43 FOX World Series, 10/25 19.37 million
44 ABC NBA Finals, 6/2 19.2 million
45 CBS NCIS, 1/5 19.0 million
46 NBC Sunday Night Football, 11/20 18.7 million
47 ESPN College Football Semi, 12/31 18.6 million
48 NBC Golden Globe Awards, 1/10 18.5 million
49 NBC Sunday Night Football, 11/27 18.4 million
50 NBC Sunday Night Football, 11/6 18.3 million

*simulcast on NFL Network

Source: Nielsen Live + Same Day Data, 12/28/15-12/18/16; Excludes Pre- and Post-Shows

WEEK 15

The Dallas Cowboys’ 26-20 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on SNF last weekend averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 24.3 million viewers across NBC and NBC Sports Digital platforms, according to national data released by The Nielsen Company, and digital data from Adobe Analytics.

The NBC-only Sunday Night Football broadcast of Buccaneers-Cowboys averaged 24.1 million viewers – the third-highest viewership for a Week 15 primetime game since 1995 and topping last year’s Week 15 SNF game by 33% (18.1 million for Cardinals-Eagles). TV viewership for Buccaneers-Cowboys peaked at 25.3 million from 11-11:15 p.m. ET.

NBC Sports Digital reached 914,000 unique users for Buccaneers-Cowboys – NBC’s fourth-best ever for a Sunday NFL game, excluding Super Bowls. The unique user total more than tripled last year’s Week 15 SNF game (301,000). The average minute audience for the Bucs-Cowboys live stream via the NBC Sports app, NBCSports.com, NBC.com ‘TV Everywhere,’ and NFL Mobile from Verizon was 156,000 viewers.

2016 NBC SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL & THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL
     
Thurs., Dec. 22 Week 16 New York Giants at Philadelphia Eagles**
Sun. Dec. 25 Week 16 Denver Broncos at Kansas City Chiefs
*Sun. Jan. 1 Week 17 TBD

*Flex Week

** Live streamed on Twitter, NBCSports.com, the NBC Sports app, NFL Mobile from Verizon, Watch NFL Network, and NFL Game Pass (International)

–NBC SPORTS GROUP–