Soaring NFL ratings suffer second straight dip in Week 6

The NFL's streak of sky-high ratings to begin the season suffered its second consecutive setback in Week 6 with almost all key network windows down year-over-year, according to Sports Media Watch. Week 6 opened with an NFC West showdown between the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks, but the ratings for Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime was down 5 percent compared to the same week last season. Meanwhile, Fox's 1 p.m. ET window of Sunday games were down 13 percent, in part due to Detroit's blowout of Dallas being down 8 percent compared to the Eagles-Jets in 2023. The trend continued into the final game of the day, with Cincinnati's win over the New York Giants watched by 15.44 million viewers -- the fewest to tune into a Sunday Night Football broadcast since 2020. Week 6 concluded with a tight game between AFC East rivals Buffalo at the New York Jets. Despite the star power of quarterbacks Josh Allen and Aaron Rodgers, the game brought in 17.3 million viewers, down from 19.64 million for the Cowboys against the Los Angeles Chargers last year. However, it was still a strong end to an otherwise down week, representing the second-largest Week 6 Monday Night audience since 2000, according to Sports Media Watch. Ratings could be in store for a rebound in Week 7, which kicks off on Thursday night with Sean Payton's return to New Orleans with the Denver Broncos. Season to date, Amazon Prime games are averaging 13.98 viewers on Thursday nights, up 18 percent over the full-season average for 2023. Sunday's slate is highlighted by the Super Bowl rematch between San Francisco and Kansas City on Fox. --Field Level Media