Fox picked a good time to invest in the NFL’s Thursday night package. The network issued a press release on Friday announcing that Thursday Night Football finished its season up 7% over ratings from 2017.
The broadcasts averaged a 10.3 rating and an 18 share in metered markets for the 2018 season. The season closed with a bang for Fox. The Chargers’ win in Kansas City was the second highest rated TNF game of the year. The only game with a higher rating for Fox came two weeks earlier in the Cowboys’ win over the Saints.
2017 was a miserable year for Thursday Night Football. It is a season that saw ratings slip 13% from 2016. That is why Fox insisted on a better schedule after bidding $3.3 billion for the package earlier this year.