NFL Viewership Down From 2015, But Still Dominant

HOLLYWOOD, CA - The average viewership for the NFL's opening two prime-time games was down 10.9 percent from its record 27.08 million viewers of 2015, but still high enough to have NBC average more viewers than ABC and CBS combined.

The Denver Broncos 21-20 victory over the Carolina Panthers in the NFL Kickoff game Thursday averaged 25.19 million viewers to be the most-watched prime-time program between Sept. 5 and Sunday, according to live-plus-same-day figures released by Nielsen Wednesday.

Viewership was 8.1 percent lower than the 27.4 million average for the 2015 NFL Kickoff game between the New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers, the second largest audience in the 15-year history of the event.

The Patriots 23-21 victory over the Arizona Cardinals on "Sunday Night Football" was second for the week, averaging 23.08 million, 13.8 percent less than the 26.77 million average for the 2015 "Sunday Night Football" opener between the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants, the second-most for a "Sunday Night Football" opener.

NBC had nine of the week's 10 most-watched prime-time programs and averaged 11.11 million viewers for its 10th victory in the past 11 weeks. ABC averaged 4.47 million viewers to finish second, a week after ending NBC's nine- week winning streak.

CBS was third, averaging 4.23 million. Fox averaged 3.93 million viewers to finish fourth among the major broadcast networks for the 22nd consecutive week.

NBC broadcast 20 1/2 hours of prime-time programming for ratings purposes, ABC 20 hours, 53 minutes, CBS 21 hours and Fox 15 hours.

Fox's average viewership was bolstered by the 27.95 million average for the 54-minute runover of its afternoon NFL coverage into prime time, which is not considered a separate program but is included in the weekly average.

Fox's six-minute NFL postgame show, "The OT" averaged 14.36 million viewers, finishing sixth for the week. Fox's most-watched non-football program was the premiere of the hybrid animated-live action comedy "Son of Zorn," which averaged 6.13 million viewers, finishing 21st.

"Son of Zorn" aired immediately after "The OT" in the Eastern and Central time zones where the bulk of the nation's population lives.

NBC also had the week's most-watched non-football program, its "Commander-in-Chief Forum," which was fifth for the week, averaging 14.72 million.

The Tuesday episode of NBC's "America's Got Talent" was the most- watched entertainment program, finishing eighth overall, averaging 11.96 million viewers.

An "America's Got Talent" episode has been the most-watched entertainment program all 13 weeks it has aired this summer.

ABC's coverage of the 2017 Miss America Competition was 17th for the week, averaging 6.29 million viewers, 11.4 percent less than the 7.1 million average for last year's ceremony.

The week's most-watched cable program was the Labor Day college football game on ESPN between Florida State and Mississippi, which averaged 8.35 million viewers, 11th overall.

College football coverage helped make ESPN the most-watched cable network, averaging 2.42 million viewers. Fox News Channel averaged 2.15 million viewers to finish second after winning each of the five previous weeks and 12 of the past 13. The week's most-watched Spanish-language prime-time program was Univision's coverage of last Tuesday's FIFA World Cup qualifier between Mexico and Honduras, which averaged 3.05 million viewers, tying for 64th overall.

In a rarity, Telemundo was the most-watched Spanish-language network, averaging 1.74 million viewers. Perennial leader Univision was second, averaging 1.63 million. was second, followed by UniMas, which averaged 520,000, Estrella TV, which averaged 210,000, Azteca America, which averaged 110,000, and MundoMax, which averaged 60,000.

The "NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt" edged ABC's "World News Tonight with David Muir", 7.898 million-7.879 million to be the most-watched network nightly newscast for the ninth consecutive week.

NBC's average is based on its Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday newscasts, while ABC's is based on Tuesday through Friday. NBC did not include Thursday in its weekly average because of pre-emptions and schedule changes in some markets because of coverage of the NFL Kickoff game.

The "CBS Evening News" was third, as it has been throughout Scott Pelley's more than five years as anchor, averaging 6.24 million viewers.

Labor Day was excluded from the averages for all three major network newscasts.

The week's 10 most-watched prime-time programs were NBC's coverage of the NFL Kickoff game and "Sunday Night Football," its 11-minute NFL Kickoff kickoff show, 14-minute "Sunday Night Football" kickoff show and the "Commander-in-Chief Forum"; Fox's six-minute NFL postgame show, "The OT"; and NBC's 25-minute third segment of its "Football Night in America" pregame show, the Tuesday edition of "America's Got Talent," the 30-minute NFL Kickoff pregame show and the Wednesday edition of "America's Got Talent."

--City News Service. Image via Shutterstock