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NBC Sports Posts Largest Two-Game NFL Kickoff Weekend Audience Since 2015, Averaging Nearly 25 Million Viewers Across NBC and Peacock

SNF

September 12, 2023

NFL Kickoff Weekend Games on NBC are Two Most-Watched Primetime Shows Across All Media Since Super Bowl LVII in February

Following Nielsen Adjustment, NFL Kickoff Game Audience Increases to 27.5 Million Viewers to Rank as the Most-Watched Kickoff Game Since 2015

Led by Peacock, NFL Kickoff Weekend Games are NBC Sports’ Two Most-Streamed Regular-Season Games Ever

With the return of NBC’s Sunday Night Football – primetime’s #1 show for an unprecedented 12 consecutive years – and last Thursday’s NFL Kickoff Game, NBC Sports delivered its largest two-game NFL Kickoff Weekend audience since 2015, averaging 24.9 million viewers across NBC, Peacock, NBC Sports Digital and NFL Digital platforms.

The two games – Detroit Lions-Kansas City Chiefs in the NFL Kickoff Game and Dallas Cowboys-New York Giants in the SNF opener – rank as media’s two most-watched primetime shows since Super Bowl LVII in February on FOX.

Led by Peacock, the two NFL Kickoff Weekend games are NBC Sports’ two most-streamed NFL regular-season games ever.

Additional NBC Sports’ NFL Kickoff Weekend viewership notes:

  • Despite the most-lopsided shutout in NBC Sunday Night Football history (since 2006), the Cowboys’ 40-0 win over the Giants on Sunday averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 21.8 million viewers – up 4% from the teams’ last meeting on SNF (a seven-point game in Week 2 of 2018; 21.0 million). Viewership peaked early in the first half at 25.9 million viewers from 9-9:15 p.m. ET.
  • Following a Nielsen adjustment, the TAD for Lions-Chiefs has increased to 27.5 million viewers, ranking as the largest NFL Kickoff Game audience since 2015 (surpassing the 2021 opener). In addition, the adjusted peak audience for the game is 30 million viewers from 9:15-9:30 p.m. ET
  • NBC Sports’ two-game NFL Kickoff Weekend average of 24.9 million viewers is up 6% from last year (23.3 million).
  • The Average Minute Audience (AMA) for Thursday night’s live stream via Peacock, NBC Sports Digital platforms, and NFL Digital platforms, was 2.8 million viewers – the largest audience ever for an NBC Sports regular-season NFL game and second-all time for any NBC NFL game, topping three Super Bowls (trailing only Super Bowl LVI in 2022).
  • Led by Peacock, Sunday night’s game delivered an AMA of 1.8 million viewers – NBC Sports’ most-streamed Sunday night NFL game on record and up 11% from last year.
  • Sunday night’s game (8:23 p.m.-11:03 p.m. ET) registered a national TV household rating of 10.4/29.

Viewership figures are based upon live + same day data from Nielsen and Adobe Analytics.

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