Football once again ruled American television during the week of September 29 through October 5, 2025, according to audience data released by Nielsen on Wednesday.
The data, from Nielsen’s “Big Data + Panels” measurement product, shows NFL coverage helped drive evening and prime-time performance for all four major broadcast networks — ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC.
Fox’s national NFL Sunday broadcast led all television last week, grabbing 20.3 million viewers and a 9.6 household rating, according to Nielsen data. CBS was not too far behind with its single NFL broadcast, which reached 19.6 million viewers, while NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” game between the Buffalo Bills and the New England Patriots attracted 19.5 million viewers.
Sports programming’s strength was evident in the weekly broadcast rankings, where football telecasts occupied nearly every top slot. NBC’s “Football Night in America” pregame segment averaged 11.1 million viewers, giving the network another top ten finish. Fox’s regional Sunday NFL coverage also remained competitive, bringing in about 10.5 million viewers. Together, the broadcasts accounted for the bulk of total prime-time viewing across all networks, Nielsen data showed.
Nielsen’s measurement period started on Monday, September 29 and ran through Sunday, October 5.
During that period, ABC was the most-watched broadcast network in prime-time with a 2.51 household rating, translating to approximately 3.2 million homes and 4.6 million total viewers. CBS placed second with a 1.31 household rating and 2.2 million viewers, followed by NBC and Fox, both of which benefited from their NFL coverage but saw lighter entertainment schedules outside of sports.
Among key demographics, ABC also led with a 0.88 rating among adults 18 to 49, followed by CBS at 0.18. ABC’s results were driven not only by its simulcast of “Monday Night Football” but also by continued strong performance from its fall entertainment lineup, including returning dramas and unscripted series.
On cable, sports remained king, with nine of the top 10 programs aired on ESPN or the NFL Network.
ESPN had the top-four broadcasts on cable with its Monday Night Football simulcast from ABC attracting 8.48 million viewers and grabbing a 2.6 share, while three MLB Wild Card Series games had an average audience of 6.9 million viewers across three days. The highest-rated MLB Wild Card Series game aired on October 2 and attracted 7.4 million viewers, making it the highest-rated, non-NFL cable sports program that week.
Fox News had the most-watched non-sports broadcast on cable: A broadcast of “The Five” on September 29 attracted 4 million viewers with a 1.2 share. All told, Fox News had 71 of the top 100 cable network broadcasts based on overall viewership between September 29 and October 5, the Nielsen data showed.
In prime-time, ESPN was the most-watched cable network during the week, attracting 2.94 million viewers and attaining a 1.5 household share. Fox News was in second place among all cable networks and first among news networks, grabbing 2.44 million viewers. MSNBC ranked third with 892,000 viewers in prime-time.
Top-Rated Broadcast Programs (among viewers over age 2, numbers are rounded)
- “NFL Sunday” (FOX) – 20.33 million
- “NFL on CBS” (CBS) – 19.58 million
- “Sunday Night Football” (NBC) – 19.48 million
- “Monday Night Football” (ABC) – 13.18 million
- “Football Night in America” (NBC) – 11.08 million
Top-Rated Cable Network Programs (among viewers over age 2)
- “Monday Night Football: New York v. Miami” (ESPN) – 8.47 million
- “MLB Wild Card Series: Thursday” (ESPN) – 7.44 million
- “MLB Wild Card Series: Wednesday” (ESPN) – 6.76 million
- “MLB Wild Card Series: Tuesday” (ESPN) – 6.52 million
- “NFL London Game” (NFL Network) – 6.04 million
Top-Rated Cable Networks (among viewers over age 2)
- ESPN – 2.94 million
- Fox News – 2.44 million
- MSNBC – 892,000
- Fox Sports 1 – 593,000
- CNN – 534,000
- HGTV – 523,000
- TBS – 413,000
- ESPN 2 – 406,000
- Hallmark Channel – 397,000
- Food Network – 372,000
(All ratings data based on Live + Same Day projections as released by Nielsen)
