NFL Week 2 ratings: CBS, Fox, NBC off to best starts in years

Despite concerns about fading NFL ratings over the Presidential election, fewer Monday Night Football simulcasts, and more streaming-only games, it’s been smooth sailing so far for the league and its broadcasting partners. After Week 1 in which everyone was a winner, Week 2’s numbers cemented how things don’t seem likely to drop off very much, so long as we don’t see too many blowouts in the weeks ahead.

‘TNF’ ratings dipped but signals good things for Prime

For those looking for signs that the 2024 NFL season will fall a little short of last year’s record-breaking numbers, they might have found one in the season premiere of Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime Video. An average of 14.96 million viewers watched the Buffalo Bills dominate the Miami Dolphins 31-10. That’s down 1 percent from last year’s season-opener (Vikings vs. Eagles) which garnered 15.06 million.

Still, that’s Prime’s third-biggest NFL audience yet, trailing just last year’s opener and the Seahawks vs. Cowboys game from later in the year (15.26 million). It’s also worth noting viewership peaked at 18.09 million, the highest peak number for Prime since it started broadcasting TNF.

The main takeaway here? Had it been a good game, those numbers might have been Prime Video’s all-time best.

CBS and the Chiefs remain a winning combo

Say what you want about Travis Kelce’s off-field dramas and Tony Romo’s strange noises but neither seems to have any impact on just now popular Kansas City Chiefs games are.

A week after the Chiefs-Ravens kickoff game drew an astounding 28.9 million viewers, Bengals vs. Chiefs in the national window drew a 13.3 rating and 27.87 million viewers for CBS. That’s the largest Week 2 NFL audience since 1990 and CBS’s biggest September NFL audience since 1998 when it started broadcasting games again.

That number was also up 8 percent from 2023’s Jets-Cowboys game in the same spot last year (25.78 million).

Just how important are the Chiefs to CBS right now? Regional games in the earlier timeslot were down 15-19 percent from last year when the Chiefs played in most markets there.

Two weeks into the season, CBS has put up an average of 19.86 million viewers during NFL games, which is a 5 percent uptick from last year and their best two-week start to the season since 1998-1999.

Fox finds success following Brady & Cowboys around

Tom Brady and the Dallas Cowboys have made for a good combo for Fox this season. With the Saints-Cowboys leading the way in their Week 2 singleheader, Fox garnered a 9.1 and 18.78 million, up 11 percent from 2023 (16.89 million).

That gives Fox an 18.68 million average on the season so far, their best two-week start since 2020 (19.44 million).

Adding to their early season delight has to be the numbers for Fox NFL Sunday, averaging a viewing audience of 5.26 million, up 12 percent from last year and their best start since 2019. We’re guessing it has less to do with Terry Bradshaw’s highlights and more to do with the Brady factor.

NBC saw solid numbers with Bears-Texans

While it might not have been a marquee matchup, Sunday night’s slugfest between the Chicago Bears and Houston Texans drew 20.3 million viewers across NBC and Peacock, which was up 6 percent from Dolphins-Patriots in Week 2 last season (19.2 million). Viewers in the Chicago market led the way with 20.7 million viewers and a 47 share while Houston wasn’t too far behind with 18.4 million viewers and a 49 share.

As Sports Media Watch notes, the Nielsen-only figures were 9.4 and 18.02 million, which was down a smidge in ratings but up in viewership from last year.