Ratings Roundup: NBA Delivers Most-Watched Opening Night in Five Years, Bills-Chiefs on CBS Is Most-Watched Week 6 Game in 15 Years

Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press releases and reports around the industry. In this week’s edition, NBA Delivers Most-Watched Opening Night in Five Years, Bills-Chiefs is Most-Watched NFL ON CBS Week 6 Game in 15 Years and more.

NBA Delivers Most-Watched Opening Night in Five Years

Bills-Chiefs is Most-Watched NFL ON CBS Week 6 Game in 15 Years, Averaging 25.407 Million Viewers

CBS Sports scored massive audiences this past weekend as its coverage across the NFL and college football totaled 50.418 million viewers in combined average viewership and more than 10 billion minutes consumed (10.36 billion).

NFL ON CBS Delivers its Most-Watched Week 6 Game in 15 Years with Bills-Chiefs

• Sunday’s highly-anticipated Bills-Chiefs rematch averaged 25.407 million viewers, the most-watched Week 6 NFL ON CBS game window in 15 years, up +43% vs. last year’s nationally-televised regular-season matchup between the teams on Sunday night (17.717 million viewers, Oct. 10, 2021) and an increase of +7% over last year’s Week 6 window on CBS.
• The regional game window, led by Ravens-Giants as the high-coverage game, averaged 13.454 million viewers, up +7% vs. last year’s comparable window.
• Paramount+, featuring live NFL ON CBS local market games, scored its most-streamed NFL regular-season game ever across viewing households, streaming minutes and average minute audience (AMA) with Bills-Chiefs and has recorded its most-streamed NFL season ever through the first six weeks.

Saturday’s Thriller is Most-Watched Alabama-Tennessee Game on Record

• Tennessee’s 52-49 victory over Alabama on Saturday scored as the most-watched Alabama-Tennessee game on record (since 1987) and the most-watched game of the season on any network, averaging 11.557 million viewers and up +145% vs. last year’s meeting.
• The game, which peaked with nearly 17 million viewers, is the most-watched regular-season game on CBS in three years since LSU-Alabama in 2019 (16.712 million viewers).
• Led by its 3:30 PM, ET Saturday afternoon window, CBS Sports has recorded the most-watched college football game for five consecutive weeks, accomplishing the feat for the first time in nine years.
• Paramount+ delivered its most-streamed college football regular-season game in three years since LSU-Alabama.

NBC Sports And Peacock Post Most-Watched Week 6 Sunday Night Football Game Since 2015, With 22.2 Million Viewers For Cowboys-Eagles

NBC’s Sunday Night Football, primetime’s #1 show for an unprecedented 11 consecutive years and pacing to finish atop the charts for a 12^th season, last night delivered its largest Week 6 audience since 2015, averaging a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of approximately 22.2 million viewers as the Philadelphia Eagles remained unbeaten with a 26-17 win over the Dallas Cowboys.

The 22.2 million viewers, based on preliminary data, across NBC TV, Peacock, NBC Sports Digital, and NFL Digital platforms tops last year’s Week 6 SNF game by 28% (Seahawks-Steelers, OT, 17.4 million).