The NFL season opener, which saw the Kansas City Chiefs upset the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots, earned an overnight 14.6 rating among households. According to The Hollywood Reporter, that's down from the 16.5 rating for the comparable outing last year, when the Denver Broncos battled the Carolina Panthers in a Super Bowl L rematch. The 25 share for Thursday's game was also down from last year's 29 share.
According to NBC's total audience delivery metric, 22.2 million viewers, down from 2016's haul of 25.4 million viewers, but up from Sunday Night Football's average for the 2016 season (20.5 million).
This is the second year in a row the first NFL game of the season has brought diminishing returns. The 2015 opener brought in a 17.7 rating among households, 21.4 million viewers and 7.4 rating among adults 18-49, when Tom Brady made a triumphant return following the "Deflategate" scandal and his subsequent four-game suspension, which was thrown out before the opener.
More eyes have been on NFL in recent years as broadcast networks like NBC and CBS — which will continue to split Thursday Night Football games this season — look to live programs to help bolster ratings.
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