NBC’s `Sunday Night Football’ Repeats As TV's Most Watched Sports Event: The Week in Sports Ratings

By R. Thomas Umstead
published

Baseball playoffs dominate non-football viewership

Deebo Samuel #19 of the San Francisco 49ers runs after a catch during the third quarter against the Dallas Cowboys at Levi's Stadium on October 08, 2023
Deebo Samuel #19 of the San Francisco 49ers runs after a catch during the third quarter against the Dallas Cowboys at Levi's Stadium on October 08, 2023 (Image credit: Getty Images)

NBC’s October 8 Sunday Night Football telecast was the most-watched sports event for the second week in a row, while Major League Baseball playoff telecasts topped non-football viewership.

NBC’s telecast of the San Francisco 49ers' blowout win over the Dallas Cowboys  averaged 24.28 million viewers for the week of October 2-8, according to Nielsen numbers published by SportsMedia Watch. Overall, NFL games secured the top five most-watched sports events for the week. 

ABC’s October 7 Oklahoma Sooners-Texas Longhorns telecast drew 7.30 million viewers to finish as the top-rated college football game. 

Baseball postseason game telecasts secured the top four slots for non-football audiences, led by TBS’s October 7 telecast of the Philadelphia Phillies-Atlanta Braves National League Divisional Series opening game. 

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Top-Rated Live Sports Events, October 2-8
Date Event NetworkViewership
October 8 Sunday Night Football NBC24.28 million
October 8 CBS NFL Football (late window) CBS 23.13 million
October 8 Fox NFL Football (early window) Fox 16.80 million
October 8 CBS NFL Football (early window) CBS 12.62 million
October 5 Thursday Night Football Prime Video 11.71 million
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Top-Rated Live Sports Events (Non-Football), October 2-8
DateEvent NetworkViewership
October 7 MLB NL Division Series TBS 3.31 million
October 4 MLB Wild Card Series ESPN 3.23 million
October 3 MLB Wild Card Series ESPN 2.98 million
October 8 MLB AL Division Series FS1 2.28 million
October 8 NASCAR Cup Series NBC 2.28 million
R. Thomas Umstead
R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.