Ratings Roundup: NFL On ESPN Sees Highest Viewership Across Entire Week Games

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, NFL on FOX secures over 27 million viewers for America’s Game of the Week; TNF Patriots vs Jets matchup hits over 13 million viewers on Prime; and more.

Monday Night Football Week 3: ESPN Platforms Average More than 19 Million Viewers for Two Plus Hours of Overlapping Action

• Jacksonville Jaguars vs Buffalo Bills on ESPN/ESPN Deportes and Washington Commanders and Cincinnati Bengals on ABC/ESPN+ averaged more than 19 million viewers
  • During 2+ hour overlap (8:15P – 10:30P)
  • Peaked at 20.4 million viewers (9:15P-9:30P)
• Commanders vs Bengals
  • Averaged 15.2 million viewers (10:30P-11P)
    • Complete game averaged 13.2 million viewers

Indiana Fever vs. Connecticut Sun Delivers Most-Watched WNBA Playoff Game Across ESPN Platforms Ever

• On Sept. 22, the Fever vs. Sun game hit 1.8 million viewers
  • Viewership peaked with 2.2 million viewers
  • +332% vs. 2023 First Round game on ABC

College GameDay Built by The Home Depot Off to Best Four-Episode Start in CGD History – Tennessee/Oklahoma Scores 6.3 Million Viewers

• ESPN College GameDay scores 2.2 million average viewers
  • Final hour average: 2.9 million viewers
• 6.3 million viewers tuned into the Tennessee vs Oklahoma matchup on ABC
  • Top primetime game in Week4
  • Most-watched program of the day among P18-49, P18-34 and women
  • Peak: 7.5 million viewers

Most-Watched ESPN Sunday Night Baseball Season in Five Years

ESPN generated its most-watched season of Sunday Night Baseball Presented by Capital One in five years – since 2019 – according to Nielsen. The 2024 campaign averaged 1,505,000 viewers across 25 games, up six percent from 2023.

The Sunday Night Baseball franchise also experienced growth in several key demographics, including Adults 18-24 (26 percent), Women 18-34 (16 percent), and Adults 18-34 (12 percent).

This season, ESPN averaged at least two million viewers four times on Sunday Night Baseball, and the average of the top five games was up 23 percent vs. last year.

ESPN platforms will exclusively broadcast the 2024 MLB Wild Card Series Presented by Capital One, starting Tuesday, October 1.

NFL on FOX Runs Week 3 with 27.3 Million Viewers for AMERICA’S GAME OF THE WEEK

• America’s Game of the Week
  • With 27,291,000 viewers, AGOTW was the most-watched telecast of the week on any network
  • FOX’s most-watched telecast of any kind since the 2024 NFC Championship
  • Up +12%, over last year’s Week 3 delivery (24,324,000 viewers)
  • Season-to-date, AGOTW is averaging 25,599,000 viewers, up +27% over last year (20,180,000 viewers) and the network’s best start for AGOTW since 2026
• FOX NFL Regional Window
  • Averaged 14,531,000 viewers in Week 3, up +19% over last season (12,210,000)
• Season to Date
  • Best start since 2016; NFL on FOX is averaging 19,638,000 viewers, up +23% over last year’s season-to-date average (15,943,000)

FOX COLLEGE FOOTBALL FRIDAY Earns Best Friday Night on FOX in Nearly a Year

• 4,213,000 viewers watched Illinois’ 31-24 overtime victory over Nebraska on Fox
• The second iteration of FOX College Football Friday was the best performance for a Friday night telecast on FOX in nearly a year (vs. Game 1 of 2023 World Series; 10/27/23)
• Most-watched telecast of the day on any network
• Peaked at 5,066,000 viewers from 11:15 tp 11:30 PM ET on FOX
• Up +63% over last week’s inaugural FOX College Football Friday matchup (vs. 2,582,000).
• Up +81% over last September’s regular Friday night programming average (vs. 2,334,000).

Chiefs-Falcons Averages Nearly 25 Million Viewers on NBC & Peacock in Most-Watched Week 3 Sunday Night Football Game Ever

The CW Network Delivers Largest Audience for NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Since July

Last Friday’s primetime debut of the NASCAR Xfinity Series on The CW Network was a huge hit with racing fans across the country—delivering the largest audience for a NASCAR Xfinity Series race since July 20 and generating the network’s highest ratings in more than eight months. Viewers are increasingly turning to The CW for live sports, with the race drawing an average of 906,000 Total Viewers according to Nielsen and peaking at more than one million total viewers between 9:30-9:45 p.m. ET, as Cole Custer put himself in position to finish first at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Compared to the September 14 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Watkins Glen, viewership rose by double digit percentages across key demos including +52% in Adults 25-54 (234,000), +50% in Adults 18-49 (161,000) and +16% in Total Viewers. Compared to the last Friday night Xfinity Series race on August 23, viewership increased by double-digit percentages in Total Viewers (+10%), Adults 18-49 (+31%) and Adults 25-54 (+26%). Finally, compared to this season’s Friday primetime average, The CW Network saw triple digit percentage increases in Total Viewers (+123%), Adults 25-54 (+169%) and Adults 18-49 (+144%)—a clear indication that sports fans are finding The CW and making it part of their regular viewing habits.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series continues on The CW this Saturday, September 28, with the first playoff race live from Kansas Speedway. Coverage begins with NASCAR COUNTDOWN LIVE (3:30-4:00 p.m. ET), with the race beginning at 4:00 p.m. ET. Rick Allen serves as lead race announcer alongside analysts Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte.

Pats-Jets TNF on Prime Matchup Attracts 13.37M

The Patriots vs. Jets game on Prime Video marked the second-straight Thursday Night Football contest to be decided by 21 points, as Aaron Rodgers and Gang Green cruised to a 24-3 victory over their AFC East rivals. The game also registered the second-consecutive TNFpresentation to average more than 13 million viewers, a back-to-back feat that has only been achieved twice before since Prime Video launched exclusive coverage in 2022.

Through two weeks, the 2024 TNF on Prime season is averaging 14.17 million viewers, which is 20% above last year’s season average of 11.86M. Below find detailed viewership highlights from last night’s coverage, as well as several season-to-date figures and trends. Please note that all the below figures are from Nielsen’s Panel Only measurement. Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel figures will arrive on Monday.

• According to Nielsen (panel only), TNF on Prime averaged 13.37 million viewers on Thursday night, posting only a slight decrease (-4%) vs. last year’s comparable game (13.92M, Giants vs. 49ers, 9/21/23).
  • The average viewership topped TNF on Prime’s 2023 season average by +13% (13.37M vs. 11.86M).
• Patriots-Jets reached a peak audience of 15.58 million viewers between 9:00 and 9:15PM ET.
• Among viewers in the coveted P18-34 demo, TNF on Prime averaged 2.78M, and outperformed all programming on Thursday (+1059% over the No. 2 program).
  • Within the P18-34 demo, last night’s game stands as the most-watched program of the week beginning Monday, September 16.
• Among viewers in the P18-49 demographic, TNF on Prime averaged 6.35M, and outperformed all programming on Thursday (+752% over the No. 2 program).
  • Within the P18-49 demo, last night’s game stands as the most-watched program of the week beginning Monday, September 16.
• Season-to-date, TNF on Prime’s median age is 47.5, nearly seven years younger than the NFL average on linear networks during the 2024 season (54.3.).
• TNF on Prime outperformed all linear programming across broadcast and cable in overall viewership and within all key demos last night.
• TNF Tonight, TNF on Prime’s pregame show that kicks off coverage each week at 7PM ET, averaged 1.54M viewers last night, which is an increase of 11% over last year’s full-season average (1.39M).
• Through the most recent available postgame show data, TNF Nightcap is averaging 2.20M viewers, which is an increase of +19% over last year’s full-season average (1.85M).