The Kansas City Chiefs' 42-27 victory over the New England Patriots in the "NFL Kickoff" game on NBC Thursday night averaged a total audience delivery of 22.2 million viewers across NBC and NBC Sports digital platforms - marking the most-watched show in three months, according to Fast National data released Friday by The Nielsen Company, and digital data from Adobe Analytics. Viewership is up 8 percent from the 2016 full-season "Sunday Night Football" average total audience delivery (20.5 million viewers).
Kansas City's victory, highlighted by Alex Smith's 368 passing yards with four touchdowns, and running back Kareem Hunt's 246 scrimmage yards in his NFL debut, also ranks as the most-watched Thursday night show since last year's "NFL Kickoff" game.
NBC averaged 21.8 million TV viewers for Chiefs-Patriots, ranking as television's most-watched show since NBA Finals Game 5 on June 12. Viewership is also expected to double the combined total of the other broadcast networks in primetime when national ratings become available next week. The average minute audience for last night's live stream via the NBC Sports app, NBCSports.com, NBC.com "TV Everywhere," and NFL Mobile from Verizon was 355,000 viewers - the highest ever for a game in the "SNF" package.
NBC Sports Digital's live stream ranks as its most streamed "SNF" game ever. Fans consumed 82.7 million live streaming minutes across 1.3 million unique devices, up 38 percent and 28 percent, respectively, from last year's "NFL Kickoff" game. The game's average minute audience of 355,000 is up 32 percent from last year (268,000).
NBC viewership for the game (not including digital) peaked from 9:30-9:45 p.m. ET with 23.9 million viewers. The game (8:42 p.m.-midnight) registered a national TV household rating of 12.6/23.
Top Metered Markets For Chiefs-Patriots:
NBC Sports' "NFL Kickoff" weekend coverage continues with the season opener of "Sunday Night Football," as 2016 Offensive Rookie of the Year Dak Prescott and the NFC East champion Dallas Cowboys host two-time Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning and the New York Giants from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The Sunday night opener marks the 11th meeting between the Giants and Cowboys in NBC's "SNF" package - the most-played matchup in the show's history (since 2006). Coverage begins at 7 p.m. with "Football Night in America."
