Packers-Vikings was another snoozefest for Thursday Night Football. Green Bay built up a 42-0 lead over Minnesota at one point and either people way too obsessed with their fantasy team or people that have a serious gambling problem were likely the only ones tuning in.
Apparently, we are a nation of people with serious gambling problems and strange fantasy football addictions.
In spite of the massive blowout, a cool 16.5 million viewers showed up to watch Thursday Night Football, demolishing anything else in its path on television including postseason baseball, college football, and any other drama, sitcom, or reality show.
The ratings comparisons to last year’s Thursday Night Football package aren’t worth much as the league and the networks are touting massive gains of 113% for last night’s contest by comparing cable television (NFL Network only) to network broadcasts (CBS and NFL Network). Of course those numbers are going to increase dramatically and this is going to be the most watched Thursday Night Football package ever, it’s never been on broadcast television before.
Through four games – four miserable, awful, boring, non-competitive games – TNF is averaging 16.1 million viewers. That’s greater than four games of this year’s NBA Finals and every game of the Stanley Cup. It’s a better average than last year’s World Series.
The more interesting comparison is between Thursday Night Football and the other primetime packages. NBC’s broadcasts this year are well-outdistancing CBS at an average of 23 million viewers so far this season (including the first Thursday night season opener). Monday Night Football on ESPN is averaging 13.5 million viewers through its first five games.
So, as one could have predicted before the season, CBS’s new package is placed right between Monday and Sunday Night Football. In spite of the terrible games, Thursday Night Football’s ratings are right on schedule. In fact, given viewership numbers for Packers-Vikings peaked in the first half last night, if the series ever did have a close game ratings would be much, much higher. The question remains if we’ll ever get one.
With bad games and calls for boycotts and a leadership crisis it leaves a person to wonder what if anything could ever get America to not watch a football game.
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