TVB: Viewers Prefer Watching Thursday Night Football on Local Stations

Thursday Night Football
(Image credit: Amazon)

NEW YORK—The TVB trade association has released viewing data from Nielsen showing that on August 25th, when Amazon Prime Video debuted its first NFL Thursday Night Football game, nearly half of the national audience came from two home markets where the game aired on local broadcast TV. 

The pre-season matchup featured the San Francisco 49’ers at the Houston Texans and it delivered 1.04 million Live+Same Day P2+ total viewers, nationally. In the two home markets where the game aired on local broadcast TV (San Francisco and Houston) the game attracted 494,135 Live+Same Day P2+ total viewers or nearly half (48%) of the national delivery, the TVB reported. 

“The power of local broadcast TV and major sports franchises couldn’t be more clear,” Steve Lanzano, president and CEO, TVB, a not for profit association representing local television stations. “Football enthusiasts love their home teams and overwhelmingly choose to watch their games on hometown TV stations. Just two local broadcast TV stations in San Francisco and Houston easily attracted 48% of Amazon’s national delivery, and that’s just pre-season!”

Data released in Nielsen’s NPOWER and NLTV report for 8/25/22 showed that Amazon Prime Video pre-season game NTI Live+SD P2+ impressions totaled 1,035,000 and the two local broadcast TV stations delivered 48% of Amazon’s national delivery, with KTVU/San Francisco Thursday Night FB NSI Live+SD P2+ delivering 264,355 impressions and KRIV/Houston Texans Pre-season FB NSI Live+SD P2+ garnering 229,780 impressions. 

George Winslow

George Winslow is the senior content producer for TV Tech. He has written about the television, media and technology industries for nearly 30 years for such publications as Broadcasting & Cable, Multichannel News and TV Tech. Over the years, he has edited a number of magazines, including Multichannel News International and World Screen, and moderated panels at such major industry events as NAB and MIP TV. He has published two books and dozens of encyclopedia articles on such subjects as the media, New York City history and economics.