NFL ratings are soaring through Week 8 of the 2025 season, with CBS and NBC on pace for their strongest starts in decades.
- NBC’s Sunday Night Football averages 24.7 million viewers across NBC and Peacock—its best eight-week start since 2006. Five games have already topped 25 million viewers, a series first this early.CBS’s Sunday afternoon package averages 18.61 million viewers—the network’s strongest opening since 1998. October alone hit 19.07 million per game, CBS’s best month since 2015 and up 7% year-over-year.
- Fox leads all Sunday windows with 19.59 million viewers, its best start since 2015. Amazon’s Thursday Night Football averages 15.29 million, up 16% from last year and its strongest in four seasons.
League wide through Week 7: NFL games average 17.6 million viewers—the best since 2015. Nielsen’s new “Big Data + Panel” measurement, launched in September 2025, adds 5–8% more viewers by capturing streaming and out-of-home viewing, though core growth remains strong even adjusted.
The NFL claimed 15 of September’s top broadcasts, pushing broadcast TV’s share of total viewing to 22.3%—the highest since January. High-profile matchups, star quarterbacks, and competitive games continue to drive the surge.