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Make no mistake about it – the NFL is the GOAT when it comes to television ratings.
Variety analyzed the list of television’s most-watched primetime telecasts from 2023 and the results were like an NFL team playing the Little Giants.
No shocker, leading all primetime programming was FOX’s Super Bowl LVII where a record-setting 115 million people tuned in to see the Chiefs defeat the Eagles on a last-minute drive.
BUT WE’RE NOT JUST TALKING SUPER BOWL…
The top FOURTEEN programs were all NFL games, while also taking the top 20 of 21 spots. And it didn’t matter what network the games were on – football fans sought out the games whether they were on FOX, CBS, or NBC.
But the dominance just doesn’t end there.
Remember how awful Thursday Night Football was this year on Amazon Prime Video? Al Michaels sure does.
But so do the Amazon TV executives, who are no doubt laughing all the way to the bank after the 29th, 30th, 32nd, 33rd, and 34th spots all went to those terrible games.
SPORTS IS ALIVE AND WELL IN AMERICA
Of the top 100 primetime TV shows, 56 of them went to sports according to Nielsen ratings. The NFL dominated with 45 of those 56, while six were the NBA Finals (the NBA is getting rocked in ratings elsewhere though), three for March Madness, one for a college football game and even FOX’s NFL postgame show brought in a rating.
Forget about a mic drop, that is the NFL delivering a crushing football spike to the rest of the competition.
And while we don’t think it would change much of the overall picture, we’ll be fair here and point out that there was that pesky strike among Hollywood writers that put a crimp in original TV content.
As far as non-sports related programming went, CBS led all networks with thirty-nine rankings. NCIS was the most-watched show with twelve episodes, followed by Blue Bloods with five and yet still CBS is cancelling the show this season.
You can check out the Top 100 list here, but I’ve included the Top 25 here:
MOST-WATCHED PRIMETIME TELECASTS OF 2023 (TOTAL VIEWERS)
| Rank | PROGRAM (NETWORK) | VIEWERS | DATE AIRED |
| 1. | Super Bowl LVII: Kansas City vs. Philadelphia (Fox) | 114,956,000 | 2/12/2023 |
| 2. | AFC Championship: Kansas City vs. Cincinnati (CBS) | 53,478,000 | 1/29/2023 |
| 3. | NFC Playoff: San Francisco vs. Dallas (Fox) | 45,864,000 | 1/22/2023 |
| 4. | NFC Playoff: Philadelphia vs. NY Giants (Fox) | 28,867,000 | 1/21/2023 |
| 5. | NFL Playoff: Cincinnati vs. Baltimore (NBC) | 27,083,000 | 1/15/2023 |
| 6. | NFL Thursday Night Special: Detroit vs. Kansas City (NBC) | 25,042,000 | 9/7/2023 |
| 7. | NFL Sunday Night Football: Kansas City vs. NY Jets (NBC) | 25,021,000 | 10/1/2023 |
| 8. | NFL Thursday Night Special: San Francisco vs. Seattle (NBC) | 25,006,000 | 11/23/2023 |
| 9. | NFL Sunday Night Football: San Francisco vs. Dallas (NBC) | 24,495,000 | 10/8/2023 |
| 10. | NFL Sunday Night Football: Green Bay vs. Kansas City (NBC) | 23,812,000 | 12/3/2023 |
| 11. | NFL Sunday Night Football: Detroit vs. Green Bay (NBC) | 22,412,000 | 1/8/2023 |
| 12. | NFL Playoff Game: LA Chargers vs. Jacksonville (NBC) | 20,817,000 | 1/14/2023 |
| 13. | NFL Sunday Night Football: Philadelphia vs. Miami (NBC) | 20,775,000 | 10/22/2023 |
| 14. | NFL Sunday Night Football: Dallas vs. NY Giants (NBC) | 20,308,000 | 9/10/2023 |
| 15. | The Oscars (ABC) | 19,412,000 | 3/12/2023 |
| 16. | NFL Sunday Night Football: Pittsburgh vs. Las Vegas (NBC) | 19,324,000 | 9/24/2023 |
| 17. | NFL Sunday Night Football: Denver vs. Minneapolis (NBC) | 18,565,000 | 11/19/2023 |
| 18. | NFL Sunday Night Football: Cincinnati vs. Buffalo (NBC) | 18,492,000 | 11/5/2023 |
| 19. | NFL Sunday Night Football: Miami vs. New England (NBC) | 17,984,000 | 9/17/2023 |
| 20. | NFL Wild Card Game: Dallas vs. Tampa Bay (ABC) | 17,870,000 | 1/16/2023 |
| 21. | NFL Sunday Night Football: LA Chargers vs. LA Rams (NBC) | 17,337,000 | 1/1/2023 |
| 22. | Next Level Chef: S2E1 “A Next Level Welcome” (Fox) | 16,893,000 | 2/12/2023 |
| 23. | NFL Sunday Night Football: Buffalo vs. NY Giants (NBC) | 16,794,000 | 10/15/2023 |
| 24. | NFL Sunday Night Football: Baltimore vs. LA Chargers (NBC) | 16,509,000 | 11/26/2023 |
| 25. | NFL Sunday Night Football: LA Chargers vs. Chicago (NBC) | 15,803,000 | 10/29/2023 |