Ratings Roundup: 100 Million Fans Tune Into Monday Night Football, Viewership Up +15% YoY

Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press releases and reports around the industry. In this week’s edition, Prime Video’s TNF hits double digit for YoY streak; 17.7 million tune in for ESPN’s Broncos-Bills matchup; and more.

ACC Football Delivers the CW Network’s Largest Primetime Audience in More Than Six Years

The CW Network delivered its largest primetime audience in over six years on Saturday, November 18, when the primetime ACC football matchup between the Florida State Seminoles and the North Alabama Lions drew 1.3 million Total Viewers in live same day Nielsen performance.

Florida State’s victory over North Alabama delivered ratings highs in the key Adults 18-49 (357,000) and Adults 25-54 (452,000) demos, beating CBS prime programming in the demos and ranking The CW as a Top 4 network in broadcast prime for the night. Additionally, the game drove triple digit week-to-week primetime increases in Total Viewers (+129%), Adults 18-49 (+261%) and Adults 25-54 (+228%). It was The CW’s largest Saturday night primetime audience since national programming began on the network in October 2021.

ACC football continues on The CW this Saturday, November 25, at 2:00pm/ET with Wake Forest taking on Syracuse. ACC basketball tips off on The CW with a doubleheader on Saturday, December 2 beginning with Notre Dame at Miami at 12:00pm/ET followed by Duke at Georgia Tech at 2:15pm/ET.

ABC/ESPN Score Three of Top Five Most-Watched Games of College Football’s Week 12 – College GameDay Built by The Home Depot Delivers Strong Viewership and Record Crowd from JMU

• University of Washington vs. Oregon State: 4.8M viewers
• Louisville vs. UMiami: 3.0M viewers
• UCLA vs. USC: 2.7M viewers
• ESPN College GameDay: 2,229,000 viewers
  • Up +1% over 2022’s Week 12
  • Final hour: 2.9M viewers

FOX NFL Week 11 Singleheader Scores Double-Digit Gains

• FOX NFL Week 11 single header hits 18.1M viewers
• Up +16% over last year’s single header on FOX

ESPN’s Live Telecast of Inaugural Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix Attracts 1.3 Million Viewers at 1 a.m. ET; Most-Viewed F1 Race Since June

Even with a 1 a.m. ET starting time, the highly-anticipated inaugural Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix attracted one of ESPN’s largest F1 audiences of the season on Sunday morning, Nov. 19.

The telecast, which ran from 1-3:05 a.m., averaged 1.3 million viewers, the third-largest F1 audience of the season on cable and sixth-largest overall on ESPN platforms this season. An average of 668,000 in the P18-49 demographic were tuned in as three-time World Champion Max Verstappen won a closely-contested race over Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez.

The Las Vegas Grand Prix was the most-viewed F1 race since June’s Canadian Grand Prix on ABC (1.76 million) and the most-watched telecast of any kind on cable after 11 p.m. ET Saturday night and in the overnight hours. Viewership for the race peaked at 1.5 million between 1:15-1:30 a.m.

The race was also streaming on ESPN+ and the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix ranks as the second most-viewed F1 race on ESPN+ on record, behind only this season’s Miami Grand Prix.

The top 10 local market ratings for the race telecast:

Formula 1 qualifying, which aired from 2:54 – 4:09 a.m. ET on Nov. 17, averaged 626,000 viewers on ESPN.

With one race remaining, the 2023 F1 season remains on track to be the F1’s second most-viewed season ever on U.S. television, averaging 1.12 million viewers. Last year’s record-setting season, which included the inaugural Miami Grand Prix that averaged a record 2.6 million viewers, averaged 1.21 million viewers.

The 2023 season has had three of the four largest live F1 audiences in history on U.S. television:

•                Miami 1.96 million
•                Monaco 1.79 million
•                Canada 1.76 million

The season will conclude with the Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday, Nov. 26, at 7:55 a.m. ET on ESPN and ESPN+. Also returning for the final race is F1 Kids, a special alternate telecast designed for children, airing simultaneously on ESPNU.

Prime Video’s TNF Attracts 12.91M — Double-Digit YoY Increase Streak Reaches Double Digits

Prime Video’s presentation of the Bengals-Ravens TNF matchup attracted the franchise’s largest average audience in five weeks and extended the season-long streak of double-digit, year-over-year increases to ten weeks.  The game’s viewership posted a +25% increase over last season’s comparable game and a +35% jump over last week’s TNF delivery. Below, find detailed viewership highlights from last night, as well as season-to-date figures and trends.

• According to Nielsen National TV Ratings (panel only), TNF on Prime Video averaged 12.91 million viewers on Thursday night, posting an increase of +25% over last year’s comparable TNF game (10.32M for Titans vs. Packers, 11/17/22). This marked the tenth consecutive week of year-over-year, double-digit viewership growth, and the largest week-to-week jump of the season (+35%).
  • Bengals-Ravens marks the fifth TNF on Prime game this season to average more than 12 million viewers.
  • Viewership of Bengals-Ravens on TNF peaked at 15.2M viewers at 9:30PM EST.
• Season-to-date, TNF is averaging 12.27M total viewers, an increase of +26% vs. last season’s ten-game average on Prime Video (9.72M).
• • TNF’s 2023 ten-game average is up +28% in total viewers over last year’s full-season average (12.27M vs. 9.58M).
• As it has every week this season, TNF won the night among total viewers across all broadcast and cable programming (+145% over the No. 2 program).
• Among viewers in the coveted P18-34 demographic, TNF on Prime averaged 2.58M, and outperformed all programming on Thursday (+539% over the No. 2 program).
  • Season-to-date, TNF is averaging 2.57M within the P18-34 demographic, an increase of +15% over last year’s ten-game average in the demo.
  • For the week beginning Monday, November 13, TNF stands as the most-watched program in the P18-34 demo.
• Among viewers in the P18-49 demographic, TNF on Prime averaged 5.95M, and outperformed all programming on Thursday (+598% over the No. 2 program).
  • Season-to-date, TNF is averaging 5.83M within the P18-49 demographic, an increase of +19% over last year’s ten-game average in the demo.
  • For the week beginning Monday, November 13, TNF stands as the most-watched program in the P18-49 demo.
• Season-to-date, TNF on Prime’s median age is 48, which is seven years younger than audiences watching the NFL on linear networks (55).
• Through ten weeks, TNF Tonight, TNF on Prime Video’s pregame show that kicks off each week at 7PM EST, is averaging 1.42M viewers, which is an increase of +27% over last year’s full-season average (1.12M).
• Through nine weeks (the most recent available postgame show data), TNF Nightcap is averaging 1.89M viewers, which is an increase of +13% over last year’s full-season average (1.68M), and outperforming all head-to-head programming across broadcast and cable.
• According to Nielsen’s custom Integrated Live Streaming Report,* Prime Video averaged 13.65 million viewers (AMA) across all media platforms during the game, and is averaging 13.43M through ten games in that metric. Please note that Nielsen’s custom Integrated Live Streaming Report is currently under review by the Media Rating Council and is not presently accredited.

Monday Night Football Delivers 17.7 Million Viewers for Broncos-Bills, Another Weekly Record in the ESPN Era

ESPN’s Monday Night Football matchup between the Denver Broncos and Buffalo Bills (November 13, 8:15 p.m. ET) delivered more than 17.7 million viewers and set another weekly ESPN MNF record in the season of superlatives around the television franchise.

ESPN’s Most-Watched MNF Week 10 Game
The audience of 17,728,000 viewers (ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, ESPN Deportes and NFL+) is ESPN’s most-watched Week 10 MNF game in the ESPN era (2006 – present) and up 38% year-over-year (Washington – Philadelphia). Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli (ESPN2) generated 1.12 million viewers, the show’s 25th consecutive episode with more than a million viewers. More highlights:

• Peak Audience: The audience peaked at 19.8 million viewers late in the first half (9:30 – 9:45 p.m. In the final full quarter hour (11:15 – 11:30 p.m.), 18.5 million viewers were watching.
• Most-Watched Program: Broncos-Bills was most-watched program on television and led in all key demos.

Monday Night Football Remains on Record Pace for the Season
For the season, Monday Night Football is on a record pace, now averaging 15.6 million fans a game – the best in ESPN’s MNF era and up 16% year-over-year. Leading into Week 10, Monday Night Football had already reached 101 million fans (11 linear games).

ABC/ESPN Deliver Two of Top Four Most-Watched Games of College Football’s Week 11

• Ole Miss vs. UGA: 4.8M viewers
  • ESPN’s 4th best audience this season
• UMiami vs. FSU: 4.2M viewers
• ESPN College GameDay
  • 2,258,000 viewers, up 5% over 2022’s Week 11
  • Final hour had 2.9M viewers

Michigan-Penn State Peaks at Over 11.2 Million Viewers on FOX

• 9,156,00 viewers watched Michigan’s 24-15 victory over Penn State Saturday on FOX
• Michigan – Penn State
  • Scored 9,156,000 viewers on FOX – the most-watched telecast of the day on any network
  • Peaked at 11,246,000 viewers from 2:45 to 3:00 PM ET on FOX
  • Second most-watched college football game of the season on any net
• BIG NOON SATURDAY: Through Week 11, the noon game window on FOX is averaging 5,718,000 viewers, up +10% vs 2022 (5,221,000; thru Week 11)
  • Season to-date, FOX’s BIG NOON SATURDAY remains the most-watched window in college football across any network

SailGP Scores Largest American Broadcast Audience in League history with 1.784M Tuning Into CBS for U.S. Team Victory 

SailGP saw the largest American television audience in league history when 1.784 million viewers tuned into a CBS broadcast of the Spain Sail Grand Prix on Sunday, Nov. 5. The event, which was capped off by the US SailGP Team earning its first victory in Season 4, saw a nine percent increase in viewership over last year’s SailGP event in Spain and marked the most-watched sailing race in the U.S. since 1992.

SailGP managing director, Andy Thompson, says, “The viewership numbers achieved on CBS are a clear demonstration of the growing interest in SailGP in the United States. We’re breaking records and rivaling some very long-established U.S. sports at what is an extremely exciting time for the league and the United States team in particular.

The victory in Spain was the first in over a year for the U.S. SailGP Team and propelled the squad to third place overall on the Season 4 leaderboard.

“SailGP is grand prix racing like you’ve never seen before,” Thompson continues. “We are attracting an increasing number of fans with our adrenaline-fueled racing, where any of the competing teams can bring home the victory on any given weekend. We’re looking forward to finishing Season 4 in the United States – with a major event in New York City in June 2024 before the season Grand Final in San Francisco in July 2024 – and we know thousands of fans won’t just be watching from home but also heading out to support the U.S. team live from the shore-line.”

In July, SailGP announced an increased partnership with CBS and CBS Sports including 12 dedicated hours on the CBS Television Network and Paramount+, doubling the network coverage from Season 3, and expanding to more than 50 hours of original programming across broadcast and CBS Sports Network.

The record-breaking audience is the latest milestone signifying that SailGP has arrived as a mainstream sport in the U.S. – as the league has expanded in Season 4 with a record 13 events across four continents – with events in major U.S. Cities including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Fans can tune in to watch every event in SailGP Season 4 on the CBS Sports Network including the upcoming Emirates Dubai Sail Grand Prix presented by P&O Marinas, December 9-10.

NBA In-Season Tournament Viewership Up on ESPN

• Viewership for the NBA In-Season Tournament on ESPN is up 55% vs. the comparable windows last season (1.7M average viewers vs. 1.09M average viewers).

100 Million Fans! Monday Night Football Leads Way as NFL on ESPN Game and Studio Portfolio Delivers Multiple Viewership Successes Halfway through 2023 NFL Season

ESPN’s Monday Night Football has reached more than 100 million fans and is achieving a record high weekly viewership, providing a foundation for success across the entire NFL on ESPN portfolio at the halfway point of the 2023 NFL Season. Multiple NFL on ESPN studio shows have scored their own individual viewership success, including Sunday NFL Countdown and NFL Live delivering their best audiences since 2016. In addition to the overall viewership success, the portfolio is also experiencing growth in key demos, including Persons 18-49 and Women.

The first half viewership success leads into ESPN’s most comprehensive second half of the NFL season in the brand’s history, first concluding its 23-game regular season schedule and delivering multiple NFL Playoff games for the first time.

Monday Night Football Up 15% Year-Over-Year Among Many Highlights
Monday Night Football has reached 101 million fans through Week 9 (11 linear games) while averaging 15.4 million viewers per game in the same time period. The record Monday Night Football viewership is the television franchise’s best at the halfway mark since it began airing on ESPN (2006 season). Year-over-year, the reach is up 14% and viewership is up 15%.

The overall Monday Night Football viewership is further amplified by increases in nearly every individual demo, including double-digit growth in Women (20%) and Persons 12-17 (10%), as well as strong growth in Persons 18-49 (6%).

The impressive numbers include all games, including Week 3 which featured two overlapping games vs. just the one in the 2022 season. Excluding this year’s Week 3, Monday Night Football would be up 21% year-over-year, averaging 16.3 million viewers a game.

Monday Night Football viewership consists of telecasts on ESPN, ABC and ESPN2 where applicable.

Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli Add to Their Alternate Telecast Viewership Records
Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli continue to add to their record breaking alternate telecast viewership, with the alternate telecast averaging 1.2 million viewers an episode. Each of the five editions this year has added to the show’s record amongst ESPN’s most-watched alternate telecasts, which Peyton and Eli now hold the top two dozen spots.

Sunday NFL Countdown Up in Every Key Demo
Sunday NFL Countdown (10 a.m. – 1 p.m.) is experiencing its best viewership since 2016, averaging 1.5 million viewers per show. The weekly pregame show is up a strong 15% year-over-year, and delivered growth in every key demo including in women (16%), Persons 18-49 (22%), and Persons 12-17 (11%).

NFL Live Continues Trend of Building Audience
NFL Live (4-5 p.m.) has bested its early season viewership from the previous year once again, as the daily show continues its well-documented trend of growing its audience each season. Through November 3, the daily show is averaging 407,000 viewers per episode, NFL Live’s best early-season start since 2016. Year-over-year, the show is also up in the key P18-49 demo and has maintained its viewership amongst women.

Monday Night Countdown Generates Significant Lead In to MNF
Monday Night Countdown (6-8 p.m.) delivered a multi-year high in its regular season debut, while separately earning four million viewers, on average, in Weeks 1 and 2 for the portion that aired on ABC (7:30-8 p.m.). For the season, the entire show is averaging 1.2 million viewers on ESPN, with the final hour averaging 1.6 million viewers.

NFL PrimeTime Tops on ESPN+
NFL PrimeTime on ESPN+ remains the most-viewed studio show on the platform since the start of the football season.

Prime Video’s TNF Scores +41% YoY Gain + Ninth-Straight Week of Double-Digit Increases

Prime Video kicked off the second half of its second season of exclusive Thursday Night Football coverage last night with a Panthers-Bears matchup that attracted an average audience of 9.56 million viewers.  The game’s viewership posted a +41% increase over last season’s comparable game and extended Prime Video’s season-long streak of double-digit, year-over-year gains to nine weeks.  Bears-Panthers reached a larger audience than six 2022 TNF games, as the current season continues its record pace and approaches several of the schedule’s most anticipated matchups. Below, find detailed viewership highlights from last night, as well as season-to-date figures and trends.

• According to Nielsen National TV Ratings (panel only), TNF on Prime Video averaged 9.56 million viewers on Thursday night, posting an increase of +41% over last year’s comparable TNF game (6.80M for Falcons vs. Panthers, 11/10/22). This marked the ninth consecutive week of year-over-year, double-digit viewership growth, and the third-largest year-over-year increase of the season.

• Season-to-date, TNF is averaging 12.20M total viewers, an increase of +26% vs. last season’s nine-game average on Prime Video (9.65M).
  • TNF’s 2023 nine-game average is up +27% in total viewers over last year’s full-season average (12.20M vs. 9.58M).
• As it has every week this season, TNF won the night among total viewers across all broadcast and cable programming (+96% over the No. 2 program).
• Among viewers in the coveted P18-34 demographic, TNF on Prime averaged 1.88M, and outperformed all programming on Thursday (+473% over the No. 2 program).
  • Season-to-date, TNF is averaging 2.57M within the P18-34 demographic, an increase of +15% over last year’s nine-game average in the demo.
• Among viewers in the P18-49 demographic, TNF on Prime averaged 4.33M, and outperformed all programming on Thursday (+371% over the No. 2 program).
  • Season-to-date, TNF is averaging 5.82M within the P18-49 demographic, an increase of +18% over last year’s nine-game average in the demo.
• Season-to-date, TNF on Prime’s median age is 48, which is seven years younger than audiences watching the NFL on linear networks (55).
• Through nine weeks, TNF Tonight, TNF on Prime Video’s pregame show that kicks off each week at 7PM EST, is averaging 1.39M viewers, which is an increase of +23% over last year’s full-season average (1.12M).
• Through eight weeks (the most recent available postgame show data), TNF Nightcap is averaging 1.93M viewers, which is an increase of +15% over last year’s full-season average (1.68M), and outperforming all head-to-head programming across broadcast and cable.
• According to Nielsen’s custom Integrated Live Streaming Report,* Prime Video averaged 10.40 million viewers (AMA) across all media platforms during last night’s Panthers-Bears game, and is averaging 13.22M through nine games in that metric. Please note that Nielsen’s custom Integrated Live Streaming Report is currently under review by the Media Rating Council and is not presently accredited.