Brandon Katz
CONTRIBUTOR
It’s common knowledge within the TV world that NFL football will always dominate whatever time slot it’s in. It’s the main reason why so many fall TV shows dread Sunday nights; they need to produce a product worthy of eating into the NFL’s mammoth audience. However, the smallest of cracks may be becoming visible in the NFL’s armor.
Last week’s Thursday night (Sept. 8) NFL opener and Super Bowl rematch between the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers drew in 25.2 million viewers, the fourth consecutive year the NFL has surpassed 25 million viewers on opening day (for comparison, The Walking Dead averages around 14 million live viewers as TV’s most-watched show). However, that total marks an 8% ratings decline compared to 2015 and a 6% drop from 2014. The lower numbers are a bit of a surprise given that Denver’s 21-20 victory over the Panthers was actually more entertaining than their lopsided Super Bowl matchup. However, the retirement of Peyton Manning this offseason may have lost some of the league’s more casual fans.
On Sunday afternoon, CBS scored a 10.2 overnight rating for its NFL offerings, a 13% drop from FOX’s numbers (11.7) last year and a 9% drop from 2014 on CBS (11.2). This also marked the lowest overnight season-opening rating in seven years.