The Chicago market averaged a 26.6 household rating for the Bears-Rams game Sunday night on NBC 5, the highest local rating in the country, according to Nielsen. In the Chicago DMA (designated market area), one ratings point equals roughly 31,000 households.
Last season, Bears regular-season games in the Chicago market averaged a 25.6 household rating. The highest-rated game was the overtime loss Nov. 1 against the Saints, which averaged 31.5.
The Bears-Rams game averaged a 12.9 rating in Los Angeles. Nationally, it drew a 9.6 rating and 17.6 million TV viewers on NBC. Across all platforms, the “Sunday Night Football” broadcast drew 18.4 million viewers. Compared to the same matchup in Week 11 of 2019, viewership for the game was up 6% from 17.3 million TAD (total audience delivery).
Last season, “SNF” posted a TAD average of 17.4 million viewers, according to Nielsen and digital data from Adobe Analytics. The show rated first in prime time for an unprecedented 10th consecutive year.
Elsewhere on Sunday, CBS delivered its second-biggest Week 1 audience since 1998, when the NFL returned to the network. For its doubleheader windows, CBS announced it had a combined average viewership of 33.47 million, according to Nielsen.
That includes the 19.54 million average for the national window, highlighted by the Browns-Chiefs game, which had the highest viewership of any telecast Sunday.
Fox’s doubleheader windows had a total average viewership of 27.42, according to Sports Media Watch. The network’s national window, which featured Packers-Saints, drew an average of 16.24 million viewers.
The Cowboys-Buccaneers season opener Thursday drew a 13.4 rating and 24.4 million TV viewers nationally on NBC. It ranks as the most-watched NFL Kickoff Game since 2015 (Steelers-Patriots), which also was the most-watched season in NBC’s “SNF” history.
The Bears return to Fox for their home opener at noon Sunday against the Bengals. Play-by-play voice Kevin Kugler, analyst and former Bears quarterback Mark Sanchez and reporter Laura Okmin will call the game.
