NBC's 'Sunday Night Football' is primetime television's No. 1 show for fourth consecutive TV season

No. 1 in primetime in viewership and household rating

For the fourth consecutive television season, NBC's "Sunday Night Football" will finish as television's No. 1 primetime show in household rating and viewership when the 2014-15 TV season concludes next Wednesday, based on live plus same day data from The Nielsen Company (September-May). This marks the only four times on record a sports series has been the highest-rated and most-watched show of the primetime TV season. 

In addition, "SNF" will rank No. 1 in primetime in the coveted adult 18-49 demographic and across all key male demos, while also handily defeating its head-to-head competition in these categories in the Sunday 9 and 10 p.m. hours.

For the 2014-15 primetime television season, "SNF" ranks as the highest-rated (12.5 household rating) and most-watched show (21.3 million, viewers 2+), and the No. 1 program in the advertiser-coveted adult 18-49 demographic (7.7). 

In addition, 12 "SNF" games averaged at least 20 million viewers. During the NFL postseason (not included in "SNF" season average), NBC televised Super Bowl XLIX Feb. 1, which became the most-watched program in U.S. television history (114.4 million viewers), and the AFC Wild Card game in primetime Jan. 3 (27.9 million viewers for Baltimore-Pittsburgh).

Also notable from the 2014-15 TV season (based on live plus same day data through May 10):

•The 21.3 million average viewers for "SNF" - despite the most lopsided games in the history of the NBC primetime package (since 2006) - tops primetime's No 2. show ("Thursday Night Football"; 16.7 million viewers) by more than 4.5 million viewers;

•In the adult 18-49 demographic, "SNF" ranks as the No. 1 show for the fifth consecutive TV season and tops the second place show by 4 percent (7.7 vs. 7.4 for "The Walking Dead");

•The 2010-14 seasons of "SNF" are the first five consecutive seasons an NFL primetime package drew more than 21 million viewers since the 1992-96 seasons of "Monday Night Football" on ABC;

In the two full primetime hours of "SNF" - 9-10 p.m. and 10-11 p.m. - NBC's show has been dominant in head-to-head competition against all other shows in the live metric, reflecting viewer choice at that moment.

While final live plus seven data for the broadcast TV season will not be available for a few weeks, according to Nielsen's most current data stream (with live plus seven through April 26), "SNF" leads the No. 2 primetime show in the following metrics:

•Average viewership - "SNF" averaged 21.5 million viewers, more than 1.5 million above the 19.9 million for "The Walking Dead."

•Household rating - "SNF" posted a 12.6 household rating, topping the 11.6 for "NCIS" and "Big Bang Theory."