
Ratings Roundup: Cowboys-Buccaneers Earns Title of Most-Watched Season Opener in Six Years; The NFL on CBS Has Second Most-Watched Week 1 Since 1998 By SVG Staff
Friday, September 17, 2021 - 7:00 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
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, Cowboys-Bucs on NBC and Peacock becomes most-watched NFL Kickoff Game since 2015, The NFL on CBS delivers massive audience in Week 1, Big Noon Saturday Matchup between Ohio State and Oregon on Fox is top-rated event of the day, and more.
Cowboys-Bucs on NBC and Peacock Becomes Most-Watched NFL Kickoff Game Since 2015 The Tampa Bay Buccaneers' thrilling 31-29 victory over the Dallas Cowboys in the opening game of the NFL season last night on NBC and Peacock ranks as the most-watched NFL Kickoff Game since 2015, which was also the most-watched season in NBC Sunday Night Football history.
Cowboys-Bucs registered a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) average of approximately 26.0 million viewers across NBC TV, Peacock, NBC Sports Digital, and NFL Digital platforms, based on preliminary data - marking the largest NFL Kickoff Game audience since Steelers-Patriots in 2015 (27.4 million viewers) and up 20% from last year's NFL Kickoff Game (21.6 million TAD for Texans-Chiefs, 9/10/20).
With an average of approximately 24.4 million viewers on NBC, the NFL Kickoff Game is television's most-watched show since Super Bowl LV in February.
NBC's TV coverage peaked at 25.4 million viewers between 9:45-10 p.m. ET and topped 22 million viewers in 11 of the 14 quarter-hours from 8:30 p.m. ET through 11:55 p.m. ET.
The Average Minute Audience (AMA) for last night's live stream via Peacock, NBC Sports Digital platforms, NFL Digital platforms, Cowboys and Buccaneers mobile properties, and Yahoo Sports mobile properties was approximately 1.6 million viewers - the highest ever for an NBC NFL game, excluding Super Bowls - and up 64% from last year's NFL Kickoff Game (970,000).
Viewership figures are based upon preliminary data from Nielsen and Adobe Analytics. Official national data for NBC will be available on Monday.
Last night's game (8:24 p.m.-11:55 p.m. ET) registered a national TV household rating of 13.4/32 - up 20% from last year (11.2/23).
Top markets included:
Dallas - 29.1/56
San Antonio - 25.5/45
Tampa - 24.6/50
Providence - 23.1/44
Austin - 22.9/46
Boston - 21.4/43
Cleveland - 20.3/40
Jacksonville - 20.1/38
Norfolk - 19.9/39
Milwaukee - 17.7/37 (NBC Sports)
The NFL on CBS Delivers Massive Audience in Week 1 The NFL on CBS delivered its second most-watched Week 1 audience since 1998, when the NFL returned to CBS, with a combined average viewership for Sunday's doubleheader windows totaling 33.472 million viewers, according to Nielsen national ratings (2015, 38.172 million viewers). With the expanded 18-week NFL season, CBS gained an additional national 4:25 PM, ET window which led to a 145% increase in gross viewership for Week 1 versus last year's singleheader (13.674 million viewers).
Viewership for the 4:25 PM, ET national window, highlighted by Cleveland-Kansas City, was the most-watched Sunday telecast on any network, averaging 19.539 million viewers. It is the Network's second most-watched Week 1 game window since 1998, and its most-watched opening weekend game window since 2015 (23.287 million viewers).
The regional game window, led by Pittsburgh-Buffalo as the high-coverage game, averaged 13.933 million viewers. Sunday's doubleheader averaged 16.586 million viewers, up 21% vs. last year's 13.674 million viewers for opening weekend.
Paramount , featuring live NFL ON CBS local market games, scored an NFL regular-season viewership record for game minutes consumed while registering triple-digit year-over-year growth in unique devices and double-digit growth in streams from Week 1, 2020. (CBS Sports)
ESPN's Monday Night Football Season-Opening MegaCast: 15.3 Million Viewers, Delivering MNF's Most-Watched Week 1 Game Since 2013 ESPN's Monday Night Football MegaCast presentation of the Baltimore Ravens at Las Vegas Raiders (Sept. 13, 8:15 p.m. ET) delivered an impressive audience of 15,292,000 viewers across ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, and ESPN Deportes. The audience for Raiders' thrilling 33-27 overtime win represents ESPN's best MNF Week 1 viewership since 2013 (15 games*) and second most-watched Week 1 game since it began airing Monday Night Football (31 games).
Additionally, the MegaCast audience for Allegiant Stadium's first NFL regular season game with fans is up 42% and 17%, respectively, from the first MNF doubleheader game (7 p.m. kickoff) in 2020 and 2019. In both years, the first game of the doubleheader was the most-viewed game out of the two Week 1 games. On ESPN2 alone, Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli registered an audience of 800,000 viewers.
Additional Ravens-Raiders MNF Viewership Highlights:
Monday Night Football was the most-watched telecast of the night among households, viewers, and all keys demo: Men 18-34, 18-49, 25-54, and 55 as well as persons 18-34, 18-49, 25-54 and P5 on both ESPN and ABC
Monday Night Football also helped ESPN and ABC become the most-watched networks (broadcast and cable) in prime time among households, viewers and the same key male and people demos
Baltimore was the highest-rated local market at 30.0, followed by Las Vegas at 18.4, and Sacramento at 16.4. The complete Top 10 also include:
Kansas City (16.0)
San Diego (15.9)
San Francisco (14.4)
Seattle (13.8)
Denver (13.6)
Cleveland (13.5)
Portland (13.3) (ESPN)
Approximately 100 Million Viewers Watched NFL Football During Week 1 Week 1 averaged 17.4 million viewers, 7% YoY on TV Digital and the 2nd-highest
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
How Aussie indie games and screen are levelling up with IP 11 June 2026
Ari Harrison, Pro Jank Footy
Head of Games Joey Egger and Ari Harrison of Umbrella sha...
12/06/2026
A fentanyl countermeasure that adapts to combat future black-market drugs Scripps Research scientists developed a vaccine that teaches the immune system to rapi...
11/06/2026
The immense size of the tourney and its Atlantic-spanning operation also disting...
11/06/2026
Nielsen has released a new soccer fandom consumer research report, The Fans Behind The Game: FIFA World Cup 2026 Edition, examining the soccer audience in the...
11/06/2026
Telemundo will launch its FIFA World Cup 2026 coverage on Thursday, June 11 with...
11/06/2026
FuboTV Inc. has announced a distribution agreement with NBCUniversal. Fubo customers can now stream Telemundo and Universo, with NBC Sports Network (NBCSN), NBC...
11/06/2026
DAZN has announced its in-app features for FIFA World Cup 2026 coverage in Spain...
11/06/2026
Roblox has released the 2026 Roblox Digital Expression Report: Wave 4 - Sports D...
11/06/2026
FIFA has unveiled DNA, the Official FIFA World Cup 2026 Anthem, performed by A...
11/06/2026
ESPN will provide English- and Spanish-language news and information coverage of FIFA World Cup 2026 across its U.S. media platforms from June 11 through July 1...
11/06/2026
The latest product of the outstanding RIT Sports Network program, this recent grad from Long Island is carving out a promising path in broadcast engineering
In...
11/06/2026
DAZN has announced a multi-year agreement to make DSPORTS channels available to ...
11/06/2026
Laura Dern at the 1986 Sundance Institute Directors Lab (Photo by Eric Edwards)
By Lucy Spicer
It takes a village to bring together the Sundance Institute lab...
11/06/2026
As podcast formats evolve in the streaming era, podcasting needs updated, transp...
11/06/2026
As Spotify's global RADAR program enters its sixth year in Italy, a new class of artists is stepping into the spotlight. Today, we're announcing the six...
11/06/2026
Pride Month is a time for celebration, reflection, and amplifying the diverse stories and perspectives from the LGBTQIA+ community that enrich our world. To hel...
11/06/2026
First in new line of muted string libraries
VSL have just announced the launch of two new string libraries that represent the first two instalments in a new...
11/06/2026
New colour option for 61-key Launchkey MK4
At Superbooth 2025, Novation introduced the Launchkey Mini 37 White and Launchkey 49 White, bringing an additiona...
11/06/2026
Larger, but still compact!
Arturia's popular compact MIDI controller keyboard is now available in a, well, slightly less compact version! The new MiniLa...
11/06/2026
Eurosatory 2026: Rohde & Schwarz shapes the new-generation battlefield Rohde & Schwarz unveils next generation SIGINT/EW and CUAS solutions on uncrewed system...
11/06/2026
Rohde & Schwarz unveils NEMACS - Directional, ultra secure connectivity for the ...
11/06/2026
MTI FILM acquires Mango/New Edit Posted by MTI Film on June 10, 2026
LOS ANGELES, CA - June 2026 - MTI FILM, the multiple Emmy Award winning Hollywood post-p...
11/06/2026
Study underscores the need for authoritative content intelligence to build trust...
11/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/06/2026
Maxon Brings Real-Time Architectural Visualization to AIA26 With New Redshift fo...
11/06/2026
ABC Kid's Caper Crew Shoots Australian Adventure with Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton June 11, 2026
0 Comments
DP Judd Overton and team bring Wes A...
11/06/2026
PTZOptics, and LayerJot today announced live demonstrations at InfoComm 2026 showing how prompt-based AI, robotic camera control, and high-performance computing...
11/06/2026
Lightware, an industry leader in signal management, announces the release of GPIO-Button-10S, a dedicated control interface enabling straightforward press-to-a...
11/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/06/2026
Kiloview, a leading innovator in AV-over-IP video solutions, will return to InfoComm 2026 (Booth# N8327) with broadcast-grade AV-over-IP solutions designed for ...
11/06/2026
Australian Games Industry Glossary of Terms 10 June 2026
From DAU and EULA to COT and QADE, here's a list of game industry terms, industry jargon and their...
11/06/2026
Berklee's Tonya Butler Named Music Business Educator of the Year The Music Business Association honored Butler at its annual Bizzy Awards.
June 10, 2026
...
11/06/2026
Ann Mincieli to Receive Honorary Doctorate at Berklee NYC Graduate Commencement The five-time Grammy-winning engineer and producer, known for her longstanding...
11/06/2026
Thursday 11 June 2026
Daisy May Cooper rallies the nation ahead of ICC Women's T20 World CupTurn on cookies to view this content. Go to Privacy options and...
11/06/2026
Back to All News
Hadewych Minis and Geert van Rampelberg to Star in New Netflix...
11/06/2026
Back to All News
Official Trailer for Anime Adaptation of Thunder 3' Unvei...
11/06/2026
Summer solstice shows from C il House and Late Date from 9pm on Saturday 20 Jun...
11/06/2026
The GeForce NOW summer sale kicked off today with limited-time savings of up to ...
10/06/2026
DAZN-owned digital-media company launches three fan-first series leaning into cr...