Welcome to primetime football, CBS.
CBS and the NFL Network’s debut broadcast of “Thursday Night Football” soared 108 percent in ratings from last year’s comparable game, which was only available on the NFL Network.
This time around, with the Pittsburgh-Baltimore game, the new duo scored an overnight household rating/share of 13.7/23 in the 56 metered markets. Last year, the N.Y. Jets-New England matchup earned a 6.6/12.
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Overall, Thursday night’s primetime programming on CBS and NFL Network from 8 p.m.-11 p.m. averaged a household rating/share of 12.9/22, which was 215 percent higher than the comparable CBS primetime programming a year ago (4.1/7).
The debut of “Thursday Night Football” marked CBS’ best primetime Thursday delivery since May 18, 2006.
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Last night’s Pittsburgh-Baltimore rating game also was 99 percent higher than the all-time best NFL Network rating of 6.9/12, which came from a Kansas City-Philadelphia game last September.
And the most recent game wasn’t even a competitive one, which tends to boost tune-in, as the home team Ravens crushed the visiting Steelers 26-6.
“Thursday Night Football” will continue next week on Sept. 18 when Tampa Bay visits Atlanta.