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State of the Screens

NFL TV Ratings Grow for 2nd Straight Year

By February 6, 2020No Comments

NFL average TV ratings for the regular season (YoY change):
1) 
2015 – 18.7M
2) 
2016 – 16.5M (↓ 12%)
3) 2017 – 15.0M (↓ 9%)
4) 2018 – 15.8M (↑ 6%)
5) 2019 – 16.5M (↑ 4%)

Total viewership for past 10 Super Bowls (YoY change) according to Sports Media Watch:
1) 2010 – NO-IND (CBS) – 106.5M (↑ 8%)
2) 2011 – GB-PIT (FOX) – 111.0M (↑ 4%)
3) 2012 – NYG-NE (NBC) – 111.4M (↑ 0%)
4) 2013 – BAL-SF (CBS) – 108.7M (↓ 2%)
5) 2014 – SEA-DEN (FOX) – 112.2M (↑ 3%)
6) 2015 – NE-SEA (NBC) – 114.4M (↑ 2%)
7) 2016 – DEN-CAR (CBS) – 111.9M (↓ 2%)
8) 2017 – NE-ATL (FOX) – 113.3M (↑ 1%)
9) 2018 – PHI-NE (NBC) – 106.0M (↓ 6%)
10) 2019 – NE-LAR (CBS) – 101.3M (↓ 4%)

FYI: The Super Bowl has always been the most popular show on TV.

The difference in Nielsen HH rating between the Super Bowl and #1 primetime show, according to Michael Mulvihill:
1) 
1969 – ↑ 13%
2) 
1979 – ↑ 54%
3) 
1989 – ↑ 70%
4) 
1999 – ↑ 97%
5) 
2009 – ↑ 192%
6) 
2019 – ↑ 414%

Our prediction: Total viewership grows 1.7% YoY (↑ 1.7M) to 103M.

More #1: Ratings up, future bright: NFL rebounds off troubled seasons

More #2: Super Bowl Sunday ratings predictions

Michael Beach

Michael Beach is the Chief Executive Officer of Cross Screen Media, a media analytics and software company that enables marketers to plan, activate, and measure CTV and linear TV at the local level. Michael is also the founder and editor of State of the Screens, a weekly newsletter focused on video advertising that is a must-read for thought leaders in the advertising industry. He has appeared in such publications as PBS Frontline, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Axios, CNBC and Bloomberg, and on NPR’s Planet Money podcast.