NFL Saturday Games Dominate Viewership Over College Football Playoff

NFL broadcasts on Saturday outperformed College Football Playoff games, showcasing the league's continued ratings dominance.

NBC's Texans-Chiefs game averaged 15.5 million viewers, outperforming competing CFP games on TNT, TBS, and truTV, which drew 6.4 million and 8.6 million viewers respectively.
FOX's Steelers-Ravens broadcast also secured strong ratings with 15.4 million viewers, surpassing the primetime CFP games aired on ESPN and ABC later that evening.
The College Football Playoff games averaged 10.6 million viewers across all four matchups, a solid showing but unable to compete with NFL head-to-head broadcasts.
NFL's strategic scheduling of prominent teams on Saturday broadcast windows ensured a ratings advantage over the CFP, with both games ranking among the day's top-viewed programs.
Post-NFL programming, such as the PNC Championship and USC-UConn women’s basketball, also benefited from NFL lead-ins, achieving record or near-record audiences.