Ratings: NBC’s NFL Kickoff Crushes Competition

Still, CBS’ “Big Brother” managed to rise against the game

Aaron Rodgers NFL

Are you ready for some football? Well, you’d better be, because from here on out the NFL games that air in primetime will dominate Sundays and Thursdays across the broadcast networks.

Last night’s season kickoff, which pitted the defending world champion Seattle Seahawks against the Green Bay Packers, smoked the competition in both demo ratings and viewers. And due to the nature of live sports, NBC’s numbers are expected to go up even more in the finals.

For now, NBC was first in ratings with an 8.4 rating/26 share in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic and first in viewers with an average of 22.5 million, according to preliminary numbers. An “NFL Kickoff” special at 8 p.m. ET earned a 5.7/21 and 16.8 million viewers. The pregame show at 8:30 p.m. ET scored a 8.8/28 and a night-high 24.7 million viewers. The game itself at 9 had a night-best 9.0/27 and got 23.4 million viewers.

Also read: FXX’s ‘Simpsons’ Marathon Draws Nearly 25 Million Viewers Over 12-Day Run

CBS was second in ratings with a 1.5/5 and in viewers with 5.7 million. In between reruns, “Big Brother” at 9 p.m. ticked up to a 2.2/6 and 6.4 million viewers.

Univision was third in ratings with a 1.2/4 and in viewers with 2.9 million.

Telemundo was fourth in ratings with a 0.6/2 and sixth in viewers with 1.4 million.

Also read: Fall TV Ratings Preview: Can NBC Stay on Top, or Will CBS Regain the Throne?

Fox was fifth in ratings with a 0.5/2 and fourth in total viewers with 2.2 million, airing entirely repeats.

ABC was sixth in ratings with a 0.4/1 and fifth in total viewers with 1.9 million. “The Quest” at 8 p.m. had a 0.3/1 and 1.6 million viewers. A rerun followed.

The CW was seventh in ratings with a 0.2/1 and in total viewers with 506,000, airing repeats.

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