Sunday Night Football: Primetime's No. 1 Show For Fourth Consecutive Season

This marks the only four times on record that a sports series has been the highest-rated and most-watched show of the primetime TV season.

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 that a sports series has been the highest-rated and most-watched show of the primetime TV season.

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 p.m. and 10 p.m. hours.

For the 2014-15 primetime television season, Sunday Night Football ranks as the highest-rated (12.5 HH 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 on February 1, 2015, which became the most-watched program in U.S. television history (114.4 million viewers), and the AFC Wild Card game in primetime on January 3, 2015 (27.9 million viewers for Baltimore-Pittsburgh).

Following is a look at primetime telecasts averaging at least 20 million viewers from Sept. 1, 2014 - May 10, 2015 (based on live plus same day data, excluding pre- and post-game shows):

Sunday Night Football:
12 Primetime Telecasts With 20 Million Viewers

NFL Postseason Games*:
4 (2 on NBC) Primetime Telecasts With 20 Million Viewers

NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament (Semifinal & Final):
2 Primetime Telecasts With 20 Million Viewers

BCS Playoffs (Semifinal & Final):
2 Primetime Telecasts With 20 Million Viewers

Thursday Night Football:
2 Primetime Telecasts With 20 Million Viewers

The Blacklist (post-Super Bowl):
1 Primetime Telecast With 20 Million Viewers

SNL: 40th Anniversary:
1 Primetime Telecast With 20 Million Viewers

Academy Awards:
1 Primetime Telecast With 20 Million Viewers

Grammy Awards:
1 Primetime Telecast With 20 Million Viewers

World Series:
1 Primetime Telecast With 20 Million Viewers

. *Four NFL postseason games in primetime: Super Bowl XLIX (NBC), AFC Championship Game (CBS), NFC Divisional Playoff (FOX), AFC Wild Card Playoff (NBC)

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 Sunday Night Football - 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 advertiser-coveted Adult 18-49 demographic, Sunday Night Football ranks as the No. 1 show for the fifth consecutive TV season and tops the second place show by 4% (7.7 vs. 7.4 for The Walking Dead)

• The 2010-14 seasons of Sunday Night Football are the first five consecutive seasons that an NFL primetime package drew more than 21 million viewers since the 1992-1996 seasons of Monday Night Football on ABC