NFL & NBC’s ‘Sunday Night Football’ Ends Season Up From 2020 & Makes Some TV History In The Process

deadline.com:

Just more than a month before the Super Bowl kicks off in the Southland, the NFL and NBC are already doing an end zone victory dance.Capped by the strong ratings of the Las Vegas Raiders’ wafer-thin 35-32 win over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday, Sunday Night Football has again topped primetime for its latest run.While not much of a surprise on the surface for the powerhouse flagship NFL show, which has been No.

1 for what seems like ages through ups and fumbles. However, with a blockbuster boost from 27.2 million who tuned in for Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ 19-17 squeaker over the New England Patriots on October 3, this year pretty much seals the deal for SNF as the most-watched show in consecutive years in what is essentially the history of television.Almost doubling the span of its closest rival American Idol from back in the day, the 2021-2022 SNF season is poised to stand as the top dog for the 11th consecutive year.Or to put in math terms, an average of 18.5 million viewers watched SNF on NBC since the NFL series’ latest debut on September 12 last year.

First off, that’s up 10.1% from the limp run of 2020 and its Covid-19 hinderances. Dipping just 7.5% from 2019’s results, this season of SNF was basically on par with 2018 and up a tiny bit from 2017.

The key adults 18-49 demo this season averaged a 5.3 rating, tops for a 14th year in a row.To add perspective in the upper echelons of TV, American Idol ruled for six consecutive seasons from 2005-2006 to 2010-2011 on Fox.