Broncos-Panthers Does 16.5 HH Rating on NBC

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The NFL’s opening game, featuring champion Denver Broncos versus the Carolina Panthers, averaged a 16.5 household rating and 29 share in metered market households, said NBC, from 8:45 p.m. until midnight.

The rating is television’s highest score in Nielsen’s metered markets, added NBC, since the Rio Olympics. The game was a rematch of last year’s Super Bowl; the Broncos held on for a 21-20 win Thursday.

But it’s down a bit from last year’s opener, when a Pittsburgh Steelers-New England Patriots telecast hit a 17.7 rating and 30 share. With huge interest surrounding Tom Brady’s Deflategate issues, that matched a 2010 rating for the highest NFL opener ever.

In Denver, last night’s game did a 46.9/74, while in Charlotte it rated a 33.2/52.

Michael Malone
Michael Malone

Michael Malone is content director at B+C and Multichannel News. He joined B+C in 2005 and has covered network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television, including writing the "Local News Close-Up" market profiles. He also hosted the podcasts "Busted Pilot" and "Series Business." His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The L.A. Times, The Boston Globe and New York magazine.