TV Ratings: ‘Thursday Night Football’ Drops With Snoozer Game
8:44 AM PDT 9/19/2014 by Michael O’Connell
Preliminary numbers fall 40 percent as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are scoreless until the fourth quarter
The second outing of CBS’ Thursday Night Football was bound to be smaller than last week — especially when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers entered the fourth quarter without having put any points on the board. Though the team did manage two scoring drives to avoid a shutout against the Atlanta Falcons, 14-56, many viewers had clearly turned the dial.
Preliminary ratings are down 40 percent from last week, with CBS and the NFL Net averaging a 3.3 rating among adults 18-49 in fast national returns. Last week’s game, which averaged an early 5.5 rating, went up to a 7.5 in the key demo once time zone adjustments were made.
Interest in the matchup was clearly already low, as pre-game coverage was also down 34 percent from comparable preliminary numbers last week. That coverage did take on the ongoing public debate over domestic abuse among NFL players and the league’s handling of it.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/tv-ratings-thursday-night-football-734304
This never happened to the “Thursday Night Edition of Monday Night Football” !