Ratings Roundup: Cowboys-Commanders Leads NFL Week 2 With 27.2 Million, College GameDay Posts Best Week 3 Ever

Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent ratings news and is derived from press releases and reports around the industry. In this week's edition, the NFL claims the top six spots in Nielsen's Top 25 Live Sports Events Telecasts, led by 27.2 million viewers for Cowboys-Commanders on FOX's America's Game of the Week; NBC's Colts-Chiefs overtime thriller is the most-watched Week 2 Sunday Night Football game since 2015; Giants-Rams becomes ESPN's most-watched Week 2 Monday Night Football game ever; the NFL on CBS posts its best Week 2 singleheader on record; Prime Video opens its fifth Thursday Night Football season with 18.6 million; College GameDay delivers its most-watched Week 3 episode ever; and the PLL Championship sets a league record on ABC.

NFL Claims Top Six Spots in Nielsen's Top 25Nielsen's Top 25 Live Sports Events Telecasts for the week of Sept. 14-20 featured a mix of NFL, college football, MLB, WNBA, PBR and NASCAR. FOX's NFL coverage in the 4:25 p.m. ET window ranked as the week's most-watched live sports event, delivering 27.2 million viewers on Sunday, Sept. 20. NBC's Chiefs-Colts telecast placed No. 2 with 24.3 million viewers the same night, and NBC is pacing up 8% over last season through the first two weeks. The NFL swept the top six spots, each topping 13 million viewers: Broncos-Chiefs on ABC/ESPN/ESPN2 at No. 3, CBS's 1 p.m. regional window at No. 4, Lions-Bills on Prime Video at No. 5 and FOX's 1 p.m. regional window at No. 6.

ABC's coverage of LSU-Mississippi ranked No. 7 with 11 million viewers on Saturday, Sept. 19, leading 15 college football spots in the ranker. The rest: Florida State-Alabama on ABC (No. 8), Kentucky-Texas A&M on ABC (No. 9), Georgia-Arkansas on ABC (No. 10), North Carolina-Clemson on ESPN (No. 11), Michigan State-Notre Dame on NBC (No. 12), Kentucky-Texas A&M on ESPN (No. 13), Houston-Texas Tech on FOX (No. 14), Kent State-Ohio State on FOX (No. 15), Miami-Wake Forest on ESPN (No. 16), Florida-Auburn on ESPN (No. 17), USC-Rutgers on CBS (No. 20), UTEP-Michigan on Big Ten Network (No. 21), Florida State-Alabama on ESPN2 (No. 23) and SMU-Louisville on ESPN2 (No. 25). Florida State-Alabama and Kentucky-Texas A&M each appear twice because the ABC and ESPN/ESPN2 telecasts were not true simulcasts.

CBS's Professional Bull Riders telecast placed No. 18, and FOX's MLB regional coverage of Phillies-Mets and Royals-Astros took No. 19. USA Network's NASCAR Cup Series telecast from Bristol landed at No. 22, and ION's WNBA coverage on Friday, Sept. 18, rounded out the list at No. 24.

Cowboys-Commanders Gives FOX's America's Game of the Week a Regular-Season HighFOX's America's Game of the Week drew 27.2 million viewers for the Dallas Cowboys' 37-20 win over the Washington Commanders on Sunday, Sept. 20, making it the most-watched NFL telecast of the season to date and the most-watched telecast of the week on any network. The audience was up 8% over last season's full-season average of 25.3 million for America's Game of the Week.

Colts-Chiefs Overtime Thriller Is NBC's Most-Watched Week 2 Sunday Night Football Game Since 2015The Kansas City Chiefs' 33-30 overtime win over the Indianapolis Colts averaged 24.3 million viewers on NBC and Peacock, based on Nielsen Big Data inclusive of first-party data, the most-watched Week 2 Sunday Night Football game since 2015. The game, which featured five lead changes and 852 yards of offense, peaked at 27.4 million viewers in the second quarter (9:15-9:30 p.m. ET).

Colts-Chiefs ranks as the fourth-most-watched overtime game in 21 seasons of Sunday Night Football on NBC, a span of 22 OT games. Only three drew more: Packers-Cowboys in Week 4 of 2025 and a pair of Tom Brady-Peyton Manning matchups between the Patriots and Broncos in Week 12 of 2013 and 2015.

Giants-Rams Sets ESPN's Week 2 Monday Night Football RecordThe New York Giants-Los Angeles Rams matchup on Monday, Sept. 21, drew 19.4 million viewers across ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, ESPN Deportes and NFL , the most-watched Week 2 Monday Night Football telecast of ESPN's tenure (2006-present). It follows the Broncos-Chiefs season opener, which set ESPN's Week 1 mark, giving the network its most-watched Week 1 and Week 2 games across 21 seasons with the franchise.

Through two weeks, Monday Night Football is averaging 21.4 million viewers, up 29% over the first two weeks of 2025, a comparison of two games this year against three last year, when the schedule included a Week 2 doubleheader. Monday Night Countdown (6-8 p.m. ET) averaged 1.6 million viewers across ESPN and NFL Network, up 106% over Week 2 last season, when the pregame show aired from 5-7 p.m. ET on ESPN to accommodate the doubleheader.

NFL on CBS Posts Its Best Week 2 Singleheader on RecordCBS Sports' Week 2 singleheader averaged 19.3 million viewers, according to Nielsen Big Data Panel, making it the most-watched Week 2 singleheader in NFL on CBS history. Led by Steelers-Patriots, coverage was up 29% over last year's Week 2 singleheader and was the most-watched NFL on CBS singleheader in September since 1989.

Prime Video's Thursday Night Football Opener Draws 18.6 MillionPrime Video opened its fifth season of Thursday Night Football with an average of 18.6 million viewers for the Buffalo Bills' win over the Detroit Lions on Thursday, Sept. 17, at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y., according to Nielsen Big Data Panel. The audience was up 5% over Prime's 2025 opener and up 21% over last season's full-season average of 15.3 million, the most-watched season in the package's 20-year history. Lions-Bills ranks as the third-most-watched regular-season NFL game on Prime, behind Broncos-Chiefs (21.1 million, Dec. 25, 2025) and Cowboys-Lions (19.4 million, Dec. 4

LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2026/09/25/ratings-roundup-cowboys-command...
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