NFL TOPS ON TV THANKSGIVING WEEKEND
Three Game Telecasts Top 25 Million Viewers
CBS’ Dolphins-Cowboys Thanksgiving Game Most-Watched TV Show this Fall
FOX’s Packers-Lions Draws Top Thanksgiving Overnight Rating Since 1996
Steelers-Chiefs on NBC’s Sunday Night Football Tops Primetime Viewership
49ers-Ravens on NFL Network Posts Best-Ever Thanksgiving Cable Viewership
The Thanksgiving tradition of family, food and football continued this past weekend as fans tuned into NFL games in large numbers.
The CBS Thanksgiving game (Dolphins-Cowboys) drew 30.9 million viewers – the most for a CBS Thanksgiving game since it acquired the AFC package in 1998 and ranking as the most-watched television show this fall (pending Friday release of FOX Thanksgiving game viewership). In addition, the CBS Sunday national telecast (mostly Patriots-Eagles) drew 26.3 million viewers – the network’s most-watched Sunday telecast of the season.
The FOX Thanksgiving game (Packers-Lions) drew a 15.8 overnight rating, tying with 1998 Vikings-Cowboys as the network’s highest-rated game on the holiday since 1996 (Redskins-Cowboys, 17.0). (Viewership figures for the FOX game will be available on Friday, according to The Nielsen Company. It will rank with the CBS Thanksgiving game as the two most-watched programs of the week and the fall TV season).
NBC’s Sunday Night Football (Steelers-Chiefs) drew 20.3 million viewers and was the most-watched primetime program of the week (November 21-27).
The Thanksgiving night 49ers-Ravens game on NFL Network was watched by 10.7 million viewers (not including over-the-air markets), ranking as cable’s top all-time Thanksgiving telecast (Nielsen records date to 1994) and the most-watched program in NFLN’s eight-year history.
NFL games also topped local ratings in 28 of 30 NFL markets last week. Following is the list of 28 NFL markets where football was the top-rated program for the week of Nov. 21-27:
| Week of 11/21–27 |
|
HH |
HH |
RTG |
|
| Market | Game |
Date |
RTG |
SHR |
Rank |
| Pittsburgh | Steelers at Chiefs |
11/27/11 |
50.7 |
67 |
1 |
| Baltimore | 49ers at Ravens** |
11/24/11 |
41.0 |
71 |
1 |
| Boston | Patriots at Eagles |
11/27/11 |
38.7 |
60 |
1 |
| Milwaukee | Packers at Lions |
11/24/11 |
37.0 |
74 |
1 |
| Buffalo | Bills at Jets |
11/27/11 |
36.7 |
61 |
1 |
| Chicago | Bears at Raiders |
11/27/11 |
35.1 |
56 |
1 |
| Denver | Broncos at Chargers |
11/27/11 |
34.4 |
63 |
1 |
| Kansas City | Steelers at Chiefs |
11/27/11 |
33.8 |
48 |
1 |
| San Diego | Broncos at Chargers |
11/27/11 |
31.9 |
60 |
1 |
| Cleveland | Browns at Bengals |
11/27/11 |
30.7 |
55 |
1 |
| Detroit | Packers at Lions |
11/24/11 |
30.5 |
61 |
1 |
| Philadelphia | Patriots at Eagles |
11/27/11 |
30.5 |
49 |
1 |
| Nashville | Buccaneers at Titans |
11/27/11 |
29.1 |
44 |
1 |
| Indianapolis | Panthers at Colts |
11/27/11 |
28.3 |
49 |
1 |
| Minneapolis | Vikings at Falcons |
11/27/11 |
27.9 |
57 |
1 |
| Seattle | Redskins at Seahawks |
11/27/11 |
26.2 |
53 |
1 |
| Dallas | Dolphins at Cowboys |
11/24/11 |
26.1 |
63 |
1 |
| Houston | Texans at Jaguars |
11/27/11 |
25.3 |
47 |
1 |
| Charlotte | Panthers at Colts |
11/27/11 |
23.7 |
43 |
1 |
| Atlanta | Vikings at Falcons |
11/27/11 |
23.6 |
44 |
1 |
| Washington, DC | Redskins at Seahawks |
11/27/11 |
22.1 |
39 |
1 |
| Jacksonville | Texans at Jaguars |
11/27/11 |
21.9 |
38 |
1 |
| San Fran-Oakland | 49ers at Ravens** |
11/24/11 |
21.2 |
57 |
1 |
| Phoenix | Packers at Lions |
11/24/11 |
20.9 |
41 |
1 |
| St. Louis | Cardinals at Rams |
11/27/11 |
20.0 |
37 |
1 |
| Miami | Dolphins at Cowboys |
11/24/11 |
18.6 |
44 |
1 |
| Cincinnati | Broncos at Chargers |
11/27/11 |
17.2 |
26 |
1 |
| Tampa | Buccaneers at Titans |
11/27/11 |
16.3 |
37 |
1 |
* Local affiliate & ESPN combined
** Local affiliate & NFLN combined
Source: NFL & The Nielsen Company
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