ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown Delivers Most-Watched Season Since 2019, as ESPN’s NFL Studio Shows Achieve 2022-23 Regular Season Viewership Successes - ESPN Press Room U.S.

ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown Delivers Most-Watched Season Since 2019, as ESPN’s NFL Studio Shows Achieve 2022-23 Regular Season Viewership Successes

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ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown Delivers Most-Watched Season Since 2019, as ESPN’s NFL Studio Shows Achieve 2022-23 Regular Season Viewership Successes

  • NFL Live Maintains Show’s Best Season Audience Since 2016
  • Monday Night Countdown Delivers Strong Season Audience; Boasts Most-Watched Episode Since 2018
  • NFL Rewind Records Best Full Season Viewership in Show’s Three-Year History
  • NFL Matchup Earns Best Audience Since 2019

The 2022 NFL regular season saw ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown deliver its most-watched season since 2019, one of several shows of strengths across ESPN’s NFL studio programming. Monday Night Countdown, NFL Live, NFL Rewind and NFL Matchup all increased or maintained their audience pace from the 2021 regular season, and NFL Primetime remained a leader on ESPN+, an impressive feat for a portfolio of shows which also had documented viewership success last season. ESPN’s regular season success was evident throughout the 18 weeks, as documented at the halfway point of the year.

Sunday NFL Countdown Up 7% Year-Over-Year and Up Double-Digits in Young Adults
Sunday NFL Countdown (Sundays, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. ET) averaged 1,240,000 viewers this season, the weekly pre-game show’s best viewership since 2019. Year-over-year, the Sunday three-hour studio programming increased its viewership by a healthy 7% (1,160,000 viewers in 2021). Examining demos, viewership among adults 18-24 was up 13% and female viewership was up 8%.

Monday Night Countdown Delivers Most-Watched Episode Since 2018
Monday Night Countdown (Mondays, 6 – 8 p.m.) delivered the show’s most-watched Monday episode since 2018 when the December 26 edition averaged 2,000,000 viewers. For the entire season, the pre-game show maintained a strong audience from last year, averaging 1.5 million viewers, in line with last year’s audience. Looking at specific demos, the show was up 4% in adults 18-24.

NFL Live Matches Best Viewership Since 2016, Continues Multiple Year Momentum
NFL Live (weekdays, 4-5 p.m.) continued its breakneck viewership accolades this season, as the daily news and information show averaged 423,000 viewers per episode. The viewership matches the show’s best season audience in five years (2016) and continues the show’s viewership successes from 2021 and 2020. In November, NFL Live averaged 452,000 viewers per episode, marking the show’s third best monthly audience since December 2018.

NFL Rewind, NFL Matchup Both Grow Audiences
NFL Rewind (Mondays, 3-4 p.m.) raised its own bar again, delivering the highlight and recap show’s best regular season audience in its three full seasons. The weekly show averaged 373,000 viewers, up from the 2021 season (370,000 viewers).

NFL Matchup earned its best audience since 2019, as the weekly show averaged 267,000 viewers. The audience was up 4% year over year. The most-viewed episode was Nov. 19 with 474,000 viewers.

NFL Primetime Leads the Way on ESPN+
NFL Primetime (Sundays, 7:30 p.m. ET and on-demand) was the top original studio program on ESPN+ during the season.

Please note: Sunday NFL Countdown excludes editions that went head-to-head with NFL game action; Regular season for NFL Live begins September 8, 2022 through January 6, 2023.

Media Contacts:
Derek Volner: [email protected]
Lily Blum: [email protected]

Derek Volner

I currently lead ESPN’s NFL Communications, including Monday Night Football, NFL Draft and studio programming. Previously, I did the same for ESPN’s vast college football portfolio. I have been with ESPN since 2013.
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