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 row – American Idol (2005-06 through 2010-11)
5 years in a row – The Cosby Show (1985-86 through 1989-90)…tied Cheers in ‘89-90
5 years in a row – All in the Family (1971-72 through 1975-76)
4 years in a row – Gunsmoke (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–