With Sunday night’s down-to-the-wire Bills-Dolphins matchup for the AFC East division title, which averaged 23.0 million viewers across NBC and Peacock, NBC Sports concluded its 18th season of Sunday Night Football, topping all primetime television series in the fall and once again pacing to finish as primetime’s #1 TV show in all key metrics for an unprecedented 13th consecutive year. NBC’s SNF, in the most competitive time slot in media, extended its record for the most consecutive years atop the primetime charts (since 1950):

Most Consecutive Years, #1 Ranked Show in Primetime, Since 1950

13 years in a row – Sunday Night Football (2011-12 through 2023-24; on pace)

6 years in a row – American Idol (2005-06 through 2010-11)

5 years in a row – The Cosby Show (1985-86 through 1989-90)… tied Cheers in ’89-90

5 years in a row – All in the Family (1971-72 through 1975-76)

4 years in a row – Gunsmoke (1957-58 through 1960-61)

Sunday Night Football averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 21.4 million viewers for the 2023 season – the show’s best viewership since 2015 and up 8% from last season (19.9 million), according to official national live plus same day data released by Nielsen, and digital data from Adobe Analytics.

“With the thrilling Lions-Chiefs opener drawing the largest NFL Kickoff Game audience since 2015, back-to-back early October blockbusters with more than 26 million viewers apiece, our first-ever Peacock exclusive NFL game, and last Sunday’s finale for the AFC East title, the 2023 Sunday Night Football season was a success from the opening kickoff to the final whistle,” said Rick Cordella, President, NBC Sports. “With a best-in-class presentation and our record-setting 13 years at #1 in primetime, we are looking forward to the postseason, which begins with three Wild Card matchups on NBCUniversal platforms and features Peacock’s Saturday night presentation of the NFL’s first-ever exclusive live streamed playoff game. It’s been a historic season for the NFL and NBCUniversal.”

• SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL DELIVERS RECORD-TYING SIX GAMES WITH 25+ MILLION VIEWERS

An SNF-record tying six NBC Sports’ NFL games topped 25 million viewers (chart below) – matching 2013 for the most blockbuster audiences in NBC SNF history (since 2006).

Most Watched Games, 2023 Season, NBC Sunday Night Football package

*Viewership across NBC, Peacock, NBC Sports Digital, NFL Digital

• LED BY PEACOCK, RECORD-SETTING SNF STREAMING TOPS 1.5 MILLION AVERAGE MINUTE AUDIENCE (AMA) FOR FIRST TIME

Led by Peacock, NBC Sports Digital hit another viewership milestone for Sunday Night Football in 2023, delivering a full-season Average Minute Audience above 1.5 million viewers (1.56 million) for the first time across Peacock, NBCSports.com, the NBC Sports app, and NFL Digital properties – up 33% from the prior record (1.17 million) set last year.

The streaming audience has grown such that NBC Sports Digital’s AMA of 1.56 million viewers for SNF tops the primetime average (8:30-11:30 p.m. ET) of all cable networks over the 19 FNIA nights this season (excludes Sat., Dec. 23 show, which was at 3 p.m. ET).

In addition to the record-setting AMA for the season, three games topped the two million mark (which had never previously been reached by a regular-season NBC Sports’ simulstream), and the eight most simulstreamed regular-season games in NBC Sports’ NFL history came this season.

Peacock’s first-ever exclusive NFL game on Saturday, Dec. 23 (Buffalo Bills vs. Los Angeles Chargers) delivered the night’s largest primetime audience, averaging 7.3 million viewers.

• SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL TOPS ALL KEY METRICS & POSTS 9 OF 13 MOST-WATCHED PRIMETIME SHOWS IN FALL

NBC’s Sunday Night Football topped all primetime shows in average viewership and household rating, and for the 16th consecutive season ranked #1 among adults 18-49. In addition, SNF posted nine of the top 13 primetime shows this fall (based on Nielsen data only, 9/7/23-1/7/24).

Key SNF Full Season Metrics (Nielsen data only)

• WOMEN WATCHED SNF IN BIG NUMBERS IN 2023

Three NBC SNF games averaged at least nine million female viewers (Nielsen only) – the most in a season since 2015 (four). The 49ers-Seahawks Thanksgiving night game led with 10 million female viewers, followed by Chiefs-Jets at 9.4 million, and Cowboys-49ers at 9.0 million. In total, SNF averaged 7.1 million female (2+) viewers in 2023, marking the series’ best season in the demographic since 2019.

In addition, women accounted for 38% of the audience for Chiefs-Jets, which is the second-highest percentage in the 18-season history of NBC SNF (excluding holiday games), behind only Washington-Dallas on Dec. 26, 2021 (38.4%).

• FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA IS MOST-WATCHED STUDIO SHOW FOR 18TH CONSECUTIVE YEAR

NBC’s Football Night in America studio show averaged 7.5 million viewers from 7:30-8:15 p.m. ET this season (excludes Sat., Dec. 23 show, which was at 3 p.m. ET) – the most-watched season of FNIA since 2016 and up 3% from last year. FNIA continues its reign as sports’ most-watched weekly studio show for the 18th consecutive year (since the show’s 2006 debut season).

In addition, the 8-8:23 p.m. ET portion of Football Night in America (including pre-kick coverage), averaged 13.1 million viewers, and a 3.4 rating among Adults 18-49, which would rank No. 3 and No. 4, respectively, among regularly-scheduled primetime shows in the demographic.

SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL TOP 20 METERED MARKETS – 2023 SEASON:

For the first time, Buffalo ranked as the top-rated SNF market. New Orleans topped the chart for the prior five years as well as in 2010, 2011 and 2013. Milwaukee was the top-rated SNF market in 2017 and 2012, while Denver ranked #1 for three consecutive seasons from 2014-16.

SUPER WILD CARD WEEKEND

The NFL’s Super Wild Card Weekend kicks off this Saturday, Jan. 13 at 3 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock with a special 90-minute edition of Football Night in America, which leads into a record playoff weekend for NBCUniversal – the first media company ever with three games in a playoff weekend.

The games begin this Sat., Jan. 13 at 4:30 p.m. ET on NBC, Peacock and Telemundo, as Super Bowl XLVII MVP Joe Flacco and the 11-6 Cleveland Browns visit top rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud and the AFC South-champion Houston Texans. Then at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday, Peacock presents the NFL’s first-ever exclusively live streamed playoff game as Tua Tagovailoa and the Miami Dolphins visit two-time Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes and the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.

Then on Sunday, Jan. 14 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC, Peacock and Universo, Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams visit Jared Goff and the NFC North champion Detroit Lions. The game marks Stafford’s first game in Detroit since he joined the Rams in 2021 following 12 seasons with the Lions, and the Lions’ first home playoff game in 30 years. The Los Angeles Rams drafted Goff first overall in 2016. Head coach Sean McVay and Goff led the Rams to Super Bowl LIII. Sunday night’s coverage begins at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock with a special edition of Football Night in America.