The Ratings Are In And The NFL - And Sports In General - Crushed Television This Year
Make no mistake about it - the NFL is the GOAT when it comes to television ratings.
Variety analyzed the list of television's most-watched primetime telecasts from 2023 and the results were like an NFL team playing the Little Giants.
No shocker, leading all primetime programming was FOX's Super Bowl LVII where a record-setting 115 million people tuned in to see the Chiefs defeat the Eagles on a last-minute drive.
Roger Goodell, commissioner of the National Football League (NFL), at the Hope Global Forums annual meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, US, on Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2023. The meeting includes over 5,200 delegates representing 40 countries aiming to reimagine the global economy so the benefits and opportunities of free enterprise are extended to everyone. Photographer: Dustin Chambers/Bloomberg via Getty Images
BUT WE'RE NOT JUST TALKING SUPER BOWL...
The top FOURTEEN programs were all NFL games, while also taking the top 20 of 21 spots. And it didn't matter what network the games were on - football fans sought out the games whether they were on FOX, CBS, or NBC.
But the dominance just doesn't end there.
Remember how awful Thursday Night Football was this year on Amazon Prime Video? Al Michaels sure does.
But so do the Amazon TV executives, who are no doubt laughing all the way to the bank after the 29th, 30th, 32nd, 33rd, and 34th spots all went to those terrible games.
SPORTS IS ALIVE AND WELL IN AMERICA
Of the top 100 primetime TV shows, 56 of them went to sports according to Nielsen ratings. The NFL dominated with 45 of those 56, while six were the NBA Finals (the NBA is getting rocked in ratings elsewhere though), three for March Madness, one for a college football game and even FOX's NFL postgame show brought in a rating.
Forget about a mic drop, that is the NFL delivering a crushing football spike to the rest of the competition.
And while we don't think it would change much of the overall picture, we'll be fair here and point out that there was that pesky strike among Hollywood writers that put a crimp in original TV content.
As far as non-sports related programming went, CBS led all networks with thirty-nine rankings. NCIS was the most-watched show with twelve episodes, followed by Blue Bloods with five and yet still CBS is cancelling the show this season.
You can check out the Top 100 list here, but I've included the Top 25 here: