TV Ratings: NFL Averaging 19M Viewers

The NFL is averaging 19.0 million Nielsen-measured viewers per regular-season game through 14 weeks, a 1% increase from the same point last season across all networks and platforms.

This figure encompasses broadcasts on NBC/Peacock, CBS/Paramount+, Fox/Tubi, ABC/ESPN, Amazon Prime Video, NFL Network, Telemundo, Fox Deportes, ESPN Deportes, and additional outlets. National TV advertising spend has risen 7% to an estimated $3.17 billion, per EDO Ad EnGage data.

Standout performances include Thanksgiving Day games, where CBS's airing of the Dallas Cowboys versus Kansas City Chiefs drew a record 57.2 million average-minute viewers—the most-watched regular-season game ever. Fox's earlier broadcast of the Green Bay Packers versus Detroit Lions ranked second for the season with 47.7 million viewers.

Among networks, NBC and CBS lead with averages of 21.97 million and 21.96 million viewers respectively, including special events like NBC's NFL Kickoff and Thanksgiving games. Fox follows closely at 21.58 million. ABC/ESPN's Monday Night Football averages 17.1 million, with variations in distribution: five ESPN-exclusive games this season, 10 simulcast on ABC and ESPN, and one Week 7 matchup (Seattle Seahawks-Houston Texans) exclusive to ESPN+.

ESPN reports Monday Night Football averaging 15.8 million viewers across 18 games, including simulcasts and the alternate Manningcast broadcast. 

Amazon's Thursday Night Football has surged 15% to 15.2 million viewers per Nielsen estimates, while four NFL Network games averaged 6.35 million.

These numbers reflect the first full season of Nielsen's "Big Data+Panel" methodology, integrating traditional panel data from 40,000 homes with tens of millions of device inputs from set-top boxes and smart TVs for enhanced accuracy.