The NFL announces a 3% viewership drop for the 2022 regular season after Amazon replaced Prime Fox for Thursday Night Football… but a whopping 185 MILLION fans still tuned in during the 18-week schedule
- NFL regular-season ratings were announced and are down three percent
- The drop is partly due to Amazon acquiring Prime Thursday Night Football from Fox
- The average viewership of 16.7 million is the third highest since 2016, despite the decline
- Over the course of the season, 185 million fans tuned in to follow the action
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The NFL’s regular season ratings were down 3% from last season, which was not unexpected as “Thursday Night Football” switched from Fox and NFL Network to airing exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.
The 272 regular-season games averaged 16.7 million viewers across television and digital platforms. The league also said 185 million fans watched games at some point in the 18 weeks.
Despite the drop, it’s the third-highest average since 2016. Last season, it averaged 17.1 million.
A whopping 185 million fans watched the NFL throughout the 2022 regular season
Thursday Night Football’s move to Amazon contributed to a 3% decline in viewership
NBC, Fox and CBS all saw viewership gains over last season. ESPN viewership was down but tended to be flat or up slightly if the January 2 game had been played between the Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals. Play was halted midway through the first quarter when Bill’s safety Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest.
According to figures from Nielsen, the 15-game Thursday Night Football package averaged 9.58 million viewers on Prime Video. Amazon’s first-party viewership measurement averaged 11.3 million.
Amazon told advertisers that it estimates an average audience of 12.6 million based on Nielsen numbers. Amazon signed a three-year deal with Nielsen to track reviews. It was the first time Nielsen tracked and included ratings from a streaming service.
The additional numbers from Amazon’s tracking came from the company’s ability to measure viewing on connected TVs, their apps, and who might be watching a separate feed on Twitch.
Regular-season games averaged 16.7 million viewers across TV and digital platforms
The NFL accounted for 82 of the nation’s top 100 television programs for the calendar year
For comparison, the Fox, NFL Network and Prime Video tricast series “Thursday Night Football” averaged 16.4 million viewers.
However, the numbers showed growth in other areas. Average viewership for the 18-34 demo was 2.11 million, up 11% from last season. The average age of viewers was 47, which is seven years younger compared to other games.
Even with the games only available to stream, “Thursday Night Football” was the most-watched show 13 out of 15 times. One of the times it was hit was Game 5 of the World Series.
The biggest jump was CBS’ national game window. The 10 games at 4:25pm ET averaged 23.50 million, an 8% increase. CBS’ overall average was 18.49 million, up 2%.
Fox saw 4% gains in both totals (19.42 million) and late-window 10-game national package (24.13 million). Fox has six postseason games this season, including the Super Bowl.
Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez was part of Amazon Prime’s analyst team for the 2022 season
TOP 10 US TELEVISION OF 2022
Source: Sportico
NBC’s Sunday Night Football was up 3% to average 19.9 million. Nine of Sunday night’s games averaged at least 20 million, its best performance in three years.
ESPN’s package of 15 Monday Night Football games and two Saturday games in Week 18 averaged 13.79 million, down 3%.
ESPN and ABC simultaneously aired two Monday night games on Sept. 19. Taking those games into account, the 19-game average fell to 13.41 million.
The Buffalo-Cincinnati game averaged 21.1 million before Hamlin’s collapse. The average rose to 23.9 million in the last hour. Since the game was canceled, ESPN didn’t include the numbers in its final average.
The season opener between Denver and Seattle, Russell Wilson’s first game with the Broncos and against his former team, saw 19.8 million viewers, the best MNF audience since the package went to ESPN in 2006.
The most-watched games took place on Thanksgiving. The New York Giants-Dallas Cowboys contest on Fox averaged 42.1 million and the first game between the Buffalo Bills and Detroit Lions on CBS saw 31.9 million.
NBC’s highest viewership also came on Thanksgiving, with the prime-time game between the New England Patriots and the Minnesota Vikings grossing 25.6 million, the ninth-best during the regular season.
Fox had five of the top 10 most watched games, while CBS had four and NBC had one.
Regular season games were ranked as the 25 most watched and 47 of the top 50.