US TV Ratings up for NFL American Football

Was it the high scoring, the close games, the competitive excellence, or the emergence of outstanding young quarterbacks?

Whatever the reason, football fans across the country tuned their televisions at impressive rates to NFL regular-season games. Consider the following end-of-season facts (all ratings through 17 weeks, except CBS single game rating which is through Week 16):

Total viewers finished up five percent (14.4 million viewers per game this season vs. 13.7 million per game last season). NFL viewership on broadcast television finished ahead of network primetime ratings by its widest margin ever. NFL games on ABC, CBS and FOX averaged 15.8 million
viewers - 52 percent higher than the average primetime viewership among the four major over-the-air networks (10.3 million average on ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC).

NFL games account for five of the top 14 programs on network television this season (see chart below). In addition, NFL games account for six of the top 10 programs among men 18-34 and the top four shows among men 18-49 (see charts below).

ESPN NFL games accounted for nine of the 10 most-watched basic cable programs in 2002 (see chart below).

Per-game ratings among men age 18-34 were up 16 percent (7.8 rating vs. 6.8 rating), while ratings among men age 18-49 were ahead 10 percent (8.4 rating vs. 7.6 rating). ESPN NFL games showed the largest increase in these demos, with men age 18-49 drawing a 7.3 rating - up 26
percent from last year (5.8).

NFL games were the top-ranked program locally 69 percent of the time, up from 55 percent last season. Out of 510 local rating weeks this season, the No. 1 spot for the week for all programs in those individual markets went to an NFL game 350 times. That means that nearly seven of 10
times the NFL game got higher local ratings than The Simpsons, CSI or any other popular TV show.

NFL programming on ESPN showed large gains in viewing
households this season. Monday Night Countdown was up 32 percent, Sunday NFL Countdown (Sunday morning) was ahead 20 percent and NFL Prime Time (Sunday night) was up nine percent.

Following are the top 15 network television programs nationally in average total viewers each week:

Network, Program Viewers
1. CSI 25.2 million
2. Friends 21.6 million
2. Survivor: Thailand 21.2 million
4. FOX National Game 21.0 million
5. E.R. 19.6 million
6. Everybody Loves Raymond 18.7 million
7. CBS National Game 17.8 million
8. Law & Order 17.7 million
9. CSI: Miami 17.2 million
10. Scrubs 17.2 million
11. ABC Monday Night Football 17.1 million
12. Will & Grace 16.9 million
13. The Bachelor 16.8 million
14. FOX Single Game 16.0 million
15. Still Standing 15.0 million


Following are this season's top ten programs on network television in key demographics (avg. rating):

Men 18-34, Men 18-49,
Program Rating, Program Rating
1. FOX National Game 10.7 1. FOX National Game 11.9
2. ABC Monday Night Football 9.5 2. ABC Monday Night Football 10.1
3. The Simpsons 9.4 3. CBS National Game 9.9
4. CBS National Game 9.3 4. FOX Single Game 9.4
5. FOX Single Game 8.9 5. CSI 8.1
6. Friends 8.5 6. The Simpsons 8.0
7. CBS Single Game 7.5 7. Friends 7.9
8. Scrubs 7.2 8. CBS Single Game 7.8
8. King of the Hill 7.2 9. Survivor: Thailand 7.6
10. FOX Regional Game 6.5 10. E.R. 6.9


Following are the most watched programs on basic cable in 2002:

Program, Date, Households
1. ESPN NFL Football (Cowboys-Texans), 9/8 8.3 million
2. ESPN NFL Football (49ers-Giants), 9/5 8.1 million
3. ESPN NFL Football (Raiders-Steelers), 9/15 7.7 million
4. ESPN NFL Football (Vikings-Packers), 12/8 7.6 million
5. ESPN NFL Football (Bucs-Saints), 12/1 7.4 million
6. ESPN NFL Football (Patriots-Raiders), 11/17 7.3 million
7. MTV Video Music Awards, 8/29 7.1 million
8. ESPN NFL Football (Colts-Broncos), 11/24 7.0 million
9. ESPN NFL Football (Jets-Patriots), 12/22 6.9 million
10. ESPN NFL Football (Dolphins-Jets), 11/10 6.6 million

Source: NFL, Nielsen Media Research, 9/5/02-12/31/02

For more details contact:

Dan Masonson, 212/450-2081