Fox’s December 17 Dallas Cowboys-Buffalo Bills NFL telecast drew the most viewers for live TV sports events last week as the league winds down its regular season schedule.
The game, won by the Bills over the Cowboys 31-10, averaged 26.33 million viewers for the week of December 11-17, easily beating Fox’s early window slate of Week 15 matchups, which averaged 16.43 million viewers, according to Nielsen numbers published by SportsMedia Watch.
NBC’s Baltimore Ravens-Jacksonville Jaguars Sunday Night Football telecast averaged 16.31 million viewers to finish third for the week. The most watched college football game of the week was ABC’s December 16 UCLA-Boise State LA Bowl telecast, which drew 2.38 million viewers.
The non-football ratings chart was led by CBS’s December 16 North Carolina-Kentucky men’s college basketball game, which drew 2.39 million viewers. Other highlights include Univision’s Liga MX Apertura Finals soccer broadcast, which averaged 2.21 million viewers; and ABC’s December 17 Texas-Nebraska NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship game, which drew a record 1.69 million viewers for the sport, according to SportsMedia Watch.
| Date | Event | Network | Viewership |
|---|---|---|---|
| December 17 | NFL on Fox: Dallas-Buffalo | Fox | 26.33 million |
| December 17 | NFL on Fox (early window) | Fox | 16.43 million |
| December 17 | Sunday Night Football | NBC | 16.31 million |
| December 17 | NFL on CBS (early window) | CBS | 14.41 million |
| December 11 | Monday Night Football | ABC | 11.40 million |
| Date | Event | Network | Viewership |
|---|---|---|---|
| December 16 | NCAA Men’s Basketball: UNC-Kentucky | CBS | 2.39 million |
| December 17 | Liga MX | Univision | 2.21 million |
| December 12 | NBA: Warriors-Suns | TNT | 1.72 million |
| December 17 | NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship | ABC | 1.69 million |
| December 17 | PNC Championship (golf) | NBC | 1.07 million |
