An NFL oddity led the way in terms of viewership during Week 4.
The highly anticipated Green Bay Packers-Dallas Cowboys game on NBC’s Sunday Night Football, which resulted in a 40-40 tie, earned the top audience of the week in the NFL. Micah Parsons’ return to Dallas averaged 26.9 million viewers across NBC and Peacock, marking the highest audience for an overtime SNF game since NBC acquired the package in 2006. According to NBC, SNF is posting its best four-week average in its 20-season history on the network, up 6% versus 2024. Notably, the Football Night in America pregame show, which traveled on-site last week, had its most-watched episode since October 2021.
Over on CBS, the network’s national window game between the Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs scored 23.77 million viewers. The game went to 93% of the country (Bears-Raiders went to 7%). The CBS regional window averaged 13.5 million viewers for a slate that included Chargers-Giants and Commanders-Falcons.
Viewership for Fox’s singleheader window was not immediately available.
The NFL’s International Series slate got off to a hot start in Dublin. The 9:30 a.m. ET game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Minnesota Vikings earned 7.9 million viewers on NFL Network, the second most-watched NFL Network international game on record, behind Dolphins-Chiefs in Frankfurt in 2023. That figure does not include over-the-air viewership in the local markets.
Rewinding to Thursday Night Football on Prime Video, the Seattle Seahawks’ narrow win over the Arizona Cardinals averaged 13.25 million viewers, down 18% from last year’s comparable game (Cowboys-Giants, 16.23 million viewers), which was a record at the time. Overall, TNF is averaging 15.83 million viewers this season, up 6% versus last year’s average at this point in the season.
Figures for the Monday Night Football doubleheader on ESPN and ABC will be added when available.
As with all ratings this football season, it’s important to note that Nielsen’s new Big Data + Panel methodology, in addition to expanded out-of-home measurements, make historical comparisons difficult. Both serve to increase viewership for live sports, meaning multiyear superlatives should be taken with a grain of salt.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.