There is no programming more valuable in television than the National Football League. Last season an average of 16.6 million people watched regular season NFL games, which was 105 percent higher than the average primetime viewership (8.1 million) for the Big Four networks.
Each NFL broadcaster increased its numbers during the regular season from the previous year, from ESPN (up 20.2 percent) to NBC (16.7 percent) to Fox (12.4 percent) to CBS (6.1 percent) to the NFL Network (48.4). The robust ratings extended into the playoffs with a record 106.5 million watching the Saints beat the Colts in the Super Bowl on CBS, topping the...
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