TV ratings: Start of football season gives NBC a ratings boost

As football season kicked off, so did NBC’s ratings.

According to preliminary numbers from Nielsen, the Seattle Seahawks-Green Bay Packers season opener, broadcast on NBC, earned a rating of 9.0 among the key 18-to-49-year-old demographic.

However, due to the nature of live sports, early ratings for the network are approximate.

An average of about 23.4 million people tuned in from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. to get their football fix. But the game itself was down 13% in ratings from last year’s game between the Baltimore Ravens and Denver Broncos, which earned a rating of 10.4 among the key demo.

In time zone adjusted metered markets, the kickoff game averaged at 16.8 rating, which was a 4% gain from last year’s season kickoff.

It was the third highest rated in the metered markets ever for a Thursday NFL kickoff game. Milwaukee, where the game earned a rating of 44.0, was the top local market. Seattle was second with a rating of 42.2 and Minneapolis was third with a rating of 26.6.

The pre-kick was up 9% from last year’s early ratings, earning a rating of 8.8 among the key demo. Roughly 24.6 million people tuned in.

With a rating of 5.7 among the key demo, the kickoff was also up 2% from last year’s early ratings.

Overall, the network was the No. 1 most-watched both among the key demo and in total viewers. It earned a rating of 8.4 among the key demo and averaged 22.5 million viewers.

CBS took second, averaging a rating of 1.5 among the key demo and 5.6 million viewers overall.

Despite being opposite football, CBS’ “Big Brother” averaged 6.3 million viewers, up 12% from last week’s 5.7 million.

The privacy-deprivation show earned a rating of 2.2 among the key demo, up 10% from last week. After football programming, it was the most-watched among the key demo. The network also aired re-runs of “Big Bang Theory,” “The Millers” and “Elementary.”

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