NFL Scores 93 of 2023’s Top 100 TV Broadcasts
By Movieguide® Contributor
The NFL secured 93 of the top 100 TV broadcasts in 2023, a number up from the 82 the league landed in 2022.
The other seven most-watched TV broadcasts included the Academy Awards, the State of the Union Address, the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, college football games and the Super Bowl.
Per Sports Pro Media, “Topping this year’s list was Fox’s coverage of the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl LVII victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on 12th February, which attracted 115.1 million viewers. The competition’s showpiece game was markedly ahead of any other broadcast, with the AFC Championship game between the Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals on CBS coming closest with a viewership of 53.12 million.”
The 2023 regular season secured an average of 17.9 million viewers per game.
The NFL gained viewership largely due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, which postponed much of the fall’s original content broadcasting season.
“With a lack of original content ESPN’s MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL were simulcast on ABC. Subsequently, ‘MNF’ ratings grew year-over-year by 24%. Also, with an average audience of 21.8 million, NBC’s Sunday Night Football is on track to have its highest audience delivery since 2015,” Forbes wrote. “Amazon’s second season of THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL has also generated strong ratings growth. In 2023, Amazon averaged 11.9 million viewers, an increase of 24% from 2022. For the 2023 season, THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL reported 13 weeks of year-over-year percent double-digit viewership increases. Furthermore, the audience delivery of all 15 ‘TNF’ games was greater than every broadcast and cable program that evening.”
Three teams also helped boost MFL viewership.
According to Sportico, “the Dallas Cowboys were the biggest ratings drivers in 2023. With an average draw of 25.2 million viewers per game across its 13 national TV appearances, America’s Team accounted for no fewer than 18 of the year’s 100 biggest audiences. Also putting in the work were the Kansas City Chiefs, who claimed 16 of the top slots, edging their Super Bowl LVII opponents in Philly (15). Meanwhile, the NFL’s top-rated local team also proved to be a big national attraction, as the Buffalo Bills closed out the year with 13 showings.”
Movieguide® previously reported:
Fox scored record views this past week for the Buffalo Bills and Dallas Cowboys match-up.
The total number of views soared to 26.3 million which was an increase of 23% over 2022’s week 15.
Additionally, the Bills-Cowboys game had over 10 million more views than the previous second-most watched game against the Chiefs-Patriots.
According to Deadline, “Fox eked out the win over the third-place finisher, NBC’s SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL with the Ravens victory over the Jaguars, which managed 16.3M viewers. CBS’ single header took fourth place and more than 14M viewers. Week 15 also included a special Saturday triple header on the NFL Network. Of the three games, the Steelers-Colts matchup took the cake with 9.79M viewers, which is down from last year’s comparable triple header when the most-watched game topped 11M viewers.”
The Buffalo Bills cruised passed the Dallas Cowboys in a dominating 31-10 victory.
