NFL Games Six Most-Watched Shows on Cable This Fall
After five weeks of the season, NFL games rank as nine of the ten most-watched sporting events since Super Bowl XLV.
A pair of Week 5 telecasts topped all television viewership last week (October 3 – 9) with the CBS national telecast (mostly Jets-Patriots) drawing 22.6 million average viewers and the Packers-Falcons Sunday night game on NBC drawing 22.0 million viewers.
Following are the most-watched sporting events since Super Bowl XLV:
| Program | Viewers |
| 1. NBC Thursday Night Kickoff Game (Saints-Packers), 9/8 | 27.1 million |
| 2. FOX Sunday National (mostly Giants-Redskins), 9/11 | 25.8 million |
| 3. NBC Sunday Night Football (Cowboys-Jets), 9/11 | 25.8 million |
| 4. FOX Sunday National (mostly Packers-Bears), 9/25 | 24.0 million |
| 5. NBA Finals Game 6 (Dallas-Miami), 6/12 | 23.9 million |
| 6. NBC Sunday Night Football (Eagles-Falcons),9/18 | 23.4 million |
| 7. FOX Sunday Single (mostly Lions-Cowboys), 10/2 | 23.3 million |
| 8. CBS Sunday National (mostly Packers-Broncos), 10/2 | 23.0 million |
| 9. CBS Sunday National (mostly Chargers-Patriots), 9/18 | 22.7 million |
| 10. CBS Sunday National (mostly Jets-Patriots), 10/9 | 22.6 million |
In addition, NFL games are the six most-watched shows on cable television this fall.
| Program | Viewers |
| 1. ESPN Monday Night Football (Redskins-Cowboys), 9/26 | 17.1 million |
| 2. ESPN Monday Night Football (Bears-Lions), 10/10 | 16.4 million |
| 3. ESPN Monday Night Football (Patriots-Dolphins), 9/12 | 14.6 million |
| 4. ESPN Monday Night Football (Rams-Giants), 9/19 | 11.9 million |
| 5. ESPN Monday Night Football (Raiders-Broncos), 9/12 | 11.1 million |
| 6. ESPN Monday Night Football (Colts-Buccaneers), 10/3 | 10.8 million |
Locally, NFL games topped the ratings in 23 NFL markets last week (Oct. 3 – Oct. 9)*. The Detroit Lions earned their highest regular season rating ever (36.4 HH rating) for this past Monday night’s ESPN game against Chicago. (Note: This game will appear in next week’s TV chart as it was played on October 10).
Following is the list of the NFL markets where football was the top-rated program for the week of Oct. 3 – 9:
| Week of 10/3-10/9 |
|
HH |
HH |
RTG |
|
| Market | Game |
Date |
RTG |
SHR |
Rank |
| Milwaukee | Packers at Falcons |
10/9/11 |
51.3 |
67 |
1 |
| New Orleans | Saints at Panthers |
10/9/11 |
49.4 |
73 |
1 |
| Pittsburgh | Titans at Steelers |
10/9/11 |
42.1 |
74 |
1 |
| Indianapolis | Colts at Buccaneers** |
10/3/11 |
35.5 |
50 |
1 |
| Buffalo | Eagles at Bills |
10/9/11 |
34.2 |
66 |
1 |
| Kansas City | Chiefs at Colts |
10/9/11 |
31.7 |
58 |
1 |
| Boston | Jets at Patriots |
10/9/11 |
31.1 |
61 |
1 |
| Minneapolis | Cardinals at Vikings |
10/9/11 |
30.9 |
66 |
1 |
| San Diego | Chargers at Broncos |
10/9/11 |
30.4 |
58 |
1 |
| Denver | Chargers at Broncos |
10/9/11 |
28.3 |
57 |
1 |
| Nashville | Titans at Steelers |
10/9/11 |
28.1 |
50 |
1 |
| Cincinnati | Bengals at Jaguars |
10/9/11 |
27.1 |
52 |
1 |
| Atlanta | Packers at Falcons |
10/9/11 |
26.8 |
40 |
1 |
| Houston | Raiders at Texans |
10/9/11 |
26.1 |
48 |
1 |
| Charlotte | Saints at Panthers |
10/9/11 |
24.4 |
49 |
1 |
| Seattle | Seahawks at Giants |
10/9/11 |
23.5 |
52 |
1 |
| Jacksonville | Bengals at Jaguars |
10/9/11 |
23.1 |
40 |
1 |
| Tampa | Colts at Buccaneers** |
10/3/11 |
21.5 |
36 |
1 |
| Baltimore | Jets at Patriots |
10/9/11 |
18.7 |
34 |
1 |
| Chicago | Packers at Falcons |
10/9/11 |
16.2 |
26 |
1 |
| San Fran-Oakland | Raiders at Texans |
10/9/11 |
14.3 |
40 |
1 |
| San Fran-Oakland | Buccaneers at 49ers |
10/9/11 |
14.3 |
37 |
1 |
| Washington, DC | Packers at Falcons |
10/9/11 |
14.3 |
25 |
1 |
| Miami | Jets at Patriots |
10/9/11 |
13.4 |
24 |
1 |
Source: NFL & The Nielsen Company
*Philadelphia DMA currently excluded due to Nielsen technical issues
** Local affiliate & ESPN combined
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