Sunday Night Football is the Highest Rated Primetime Program in America

This news is shocking for so many reasons. For starters, American Idol is no longer the most watched program in America for the first time in 8 years, after years of an increasingly blander format targeted towards teenage girls who refuse to vote for female talent. Secondly, the most watched program that replaces American Idol is not a drama program or a comedy, but a sports broadcast. It beat out NCIS, Dancing with the Stars, The Voice, Two and a Half Men, among many other shows. Thirdly, it doesn't even air a full "season" of shows, airing 18 regular season games, 2 wild card playoff games, and the Super Bowl, which was not accounted for in the ratings, all without a break that most TV shows have.


Sunday Night Football is without a doubt the gold standard in football broadcasts. The NFL on Fox and The NFL on CBS are both ok, with Fox being much better overall, but neither come close to NBC's coverage. Monday Night Football on ESPN is pretty bad all-around, although with the departure of Ron Jaworski, the show might improve in quality with less inane banter. Thursday Night Football on NFL Network is underrated with a great crew, which hopefully get more notoriety this season as more carriers will have the network at no additional cost and with more exposure thanks to all 32 teams having primetime games thanks to NFL Network.


This season figures to have great ratings for SNF, with an incredible slate of games. Here's their full schedule for a refresher, with subplots included:

1. Dallas Cowboys vs New York Giants, NFC East Rivalry
2. Pittsburgh Steelers vs Denver Broncos, Peyton Manning's Debut as a Bronco
3. Detroit Lions vs San Francisco 49ers, Rematch of "The Handshake" from last year
4. New England Patriots vs Baltimore Ravens, Rematch of 2012 AFC Championship
5. New York Giants vs Philadelphia Eagles, NFC East Rivalry
6. San Diego Chargers vs New Orleans Saints, Drew Brees faces former team
7. Green Bay Packers vs Houston Texans
8. Pittsburgh Steelers vs Cincinnati Bengals, AFC North Rivalry
9. New Orleans Saints vs Denver Broncos, Brees vs Manning SB XLIV Rematch
10. Dallas Cowboys vs Atlanta Falcons
11. Houston Texans vs Chicago Bears
12. Baltimore Ravens vs Pittsburgh Steelers, AFC North Rivalry
13. New England Patriots vs New York Jets, AFC East Rivalry & Thanksgiving
14. Green Bay Packers vs New York Giants, Rematch of NFC Divisional Playoffs
15. Philadelphia Eagles vs Dallas Cowboys, NFC East Rivalry
16. Detroit Lions vs Green Bay Packers, NFC North Rivalry
17. San Francisco 49ers vs New England Patriots
18. San Diego Chargers vs New York Jets

I have a strong feeling Sunday Night Football will repeat as the most watched program in America next season.