TV Ratings: NFL Football Rebound Continues

NFL TV games' viewership keeps rising -- now up 5% through week 12 of the season, to average 15.8 million viewers. Through week 11, it had been 3% higher on a season-to-date basis.

One major reason for the increase is that week 12 of the NFL season posted a strong average of 20.3 million viewers for all its programming -- 15% higher than week 12 of the 2017 season, according to MediaPost.

These results come as Standard Index Media says total NFL revenues were down in the first two months of the season -- September and October -- by 19% as a result of fewer games (27 versus 31). No TV revenue data is yet available for the November game weeks that followed.

The NFL says its games accounted for 19 of the top 20 and 46 of the top 50 most-watched shows on television so far this season.

Amazon reported that its comparable TV ratings -- average minute viewing ratings -- grew 36% to 455,000 through the first seven games of “Thursday Night Football” this season that the digital video platform aired.

Fox has the broadcast rights to the ”Thursday Night Football" games; NFL Network has the cable airings.