FOX Sports reported that its Week 16 singleheader garnered 19.7 million viewers, which is the best performance for any singleheader in the NFL on any network this season. The broadcast window, which only featured one game per marketplace since the network had broadcast an NFL game on Saturday, featured the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders for a majority of the country at this time. Four of the five NFL on FOX games on Sunday kicked off at 1 p.m. EST, encompassing a singleheader that was up 64% over the comparable window last year, according to data from Nielsen Media Research.
As part of media rights agreements with the NFL, FOX Sports and CBS Sports each have eight doubleheaders spanning all weeks in the schedule excluding Week 15 and Week 18. During those weeks, every market will have four Sunday NFL afternoon games taking the airwaves. Networks are permitted to have doubleheaders in consecutive weeks but cannot do so for three weeks in a row. FOX Sports will air a doubleheader next week, starting with regional action before most of the country gains access to the late-afternoon matchup featuring the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles.
Preceding the Sunday afternoon singleheader, FOX Sports broadcast a Saturday NFL game featuring the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers. The matchup accrued an average of 15.4 million viewers, marking the most-watched telecast of the day on any network and a 7% increase over last year’s comparable window. Before that game took the air, the Houston Texans and Kansas City Chiefs played an afternoon game on NBC and Peacock. All four of these teams will participate in the Christmas Day showcase of games, which will air on Netflix for the first time under a three-year deal.
FOX and CBS broadcast NFL doubleheaders during Week 15 that combined for a national window audience averaging 39.6 million viewers, according to Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch. League rules allow for two simultaneous doubleheaders per season, which are taking place during Week 15 and Week 18 this year. All NFL teams have taken their bye week, resulting in 16-game slates every week for the remainder of the regular season.
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