TV Ratings: K-C Loss Draws 28.18M Viewers To CBS Sports

CBS Sports’ broadcast of the Kansas City Chiefs’ 28-24 loss to the Denver Broncos averaged 28.18 million viewers, narrowly missing the most-watched game of the 2026 NFL season, the network said.

The Sunday afternoon game was just below the 28.5 million viewers who watched the Chiefs’ Week 4 game against the Raiders, which remains the season’s audience leader. The Chiefs-Broncos matchup was the most-watched Week 8 game on record for CBS.

Denver’s victory in the AFC West matchup came down to the final moments. The game also benefited from a strong lead-in from earlier Sunday broadcasts, including Ravens-Bills, and aired in the late-afternoon national window after the switch to standard time.

CBS Sports is averaging 19.56 million viewers this season, up 5% from the same point last year. Its 4:25 p.m. Eastern Sunday national window is averaging 25.3 million viewers, the most for any U.S. television program, the network said. CBS has aired the season’s two most-watched games and three of the top five.

Through Week 7, NFL games across domestic rights holders averaged 18.4 million viewers, the league’s highest figure at that point in a season since 2015. Updated numbers including Week 8 are expected Thursday.