Primetime Ratings: NBC Rolls With NFL Opener

NBC posted a noisy 8 rating in viewers 18-49, according to Nielsen’s overnights, and a 28 share. It was NFL football, of course, with the Broncos offing the Panthers in a Super Bowl rematch Thursday, that gave NBC the massive ratings.

The NFL’s opening game averaged a 16.5 household rating and 29 share in metered markets, said NBC, down a tick from last year’s Thursday opener.

Everyone else was playing for crumbs. CBS rated a 1.0/4, with Big Brother up 6% to 1.7. Repeats led in and out of Big Brother.

ABC posted a 0.6/2, Fox a 0.5/2 and The CW a 0.2/1.  

ABC had repeated game shows. Fox aired reruns of Rosewood and Bones, while CW had a rerun of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow before a fresh Beauty and the Beast at a flat 0.2.  

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.