While the numbers are not what you find on Fox and CBS Prime Video’s second season of exclusive Thursday Night Football (TNF) featured substantial viewership gains and set multiple all-time marks for the most streamed NFL games in history, as the service continues to attract future generations of fans and set new standards of scale for live sports consumption on a streaming channel.
According to Nielsen, TNF on Prime Video registered a +24% increase among total viewers over the previous season (11.86 million vs. 9.58 million). TNF’s across-the-board viewership gains in 2023 included 13 weeks of double-digit, year-over-year gains among total viewers, as well as its second consecutive season of double-digit increases in the hard-to-reach P18-34 demographic.
As the NFL’s regular season draws to a close this weekend, the median age of Prime Video’s TNF audience is almost seven years younger than those watching the NFL on linear networks, and nearly 14 years younger than audiences watching prime-time broadcast television during the Fall 2023 season.
“We’re still very much at the beginning, but Thursday Night Football’s record growth in our second season is beyond encouraging as we work to super serve fans and advertisers,” said Jay Marine, vice president, Prime Video, and global head of sports. “We are building TNF on Prime into an incredibly valuable franchise, and our production and tech teams deserve a great deal of credit for the quality and innovation we have delivered to fans, and we are just getting started.”
The 2023 TNF on Prime season kicked off in September with a Vikings-Eagles matchup that averaged 15.1 million viewers, making it the most watched TNF game ever on Prime Video, as well as the most streamed NFL game in history. On November 30, those records were broken by a Seahawks-Cowboys TNF thriller that attracted an average audience of 15.3 million viewers, and a peak audience of nearly 18 million. Other season highlights included the launch of a new NFL tentpole event with the inaugural Black Friday Football game, and double-digit viewership growth across all pregame and postgame shows, including TNF Tonight and TNF Nightcap, which grew +24% and +10%, respectively.
Below, find 2023 viewership highlights from Prime Video’s second of 11 seasons as the exclusive home of TNF. In order to present apples-to-apples comparisons with previous TNF seasons, the following figures do not include the inaugural Black Friday Football game, which is covered in a separate section. There is also a separate section that covers Nielsen’s custom Integrated Live Streaming Report, a viewership enhancement introduced prior to the 2023 season that incorporates Amazon’s first-party viewing signal.
- According to Nielsen National TV Ratings (panel only),TNF on Prime Video averaged 11.86 million viewers per game during the 2023 season, marking an increase of +24% over the previous season (vs. 9.58 million).
o The 2023 TNF on Prime season featured 13 weeks of double-digit, year-over-year viewership gains.
o TNF’s average audience crossed the 10 million mark 12 times during the 2023 season, while the 2022 TNF on Prime season posted six games that reached the 10 million mark.
According to Nielsen, the 15-game average of each TNF stream’s peak viewership was 13.93 million, marking a +23% increase over the previous season’s peak average (vs. 11.33 million).
Throughout the 2023 season, fans watching TNF on Prime carried a median age of 48.5 years old, which is 6.9 years younger than the average median age of viewers watching the NFL on linear TV (55.4), and 13.9 years younger than audiences watching prime time broadcast television during the Fall 2023 season (62.4).
For the first time, all 15 of TNF on Prime’s games won the night among total viewers against competing programming on broadcast and cable.
Additional highlights include:
Second Consecutive Year of Double-Digit Viewership Growth Among P18-34
- Among viewers in the coveted P18-34 demographic,TNF on Prime registered its second consecutive year of double-digit growth, posting an average of 2.40 million viewers.
o The 2023 TNF on Prime average among P18-34 marks an increase of +14% over the 2022 TNF on Prime season (vs. 2.11 million).
- The 2022TNF on Prime season average among P18-34 posted an +11% increase over the 2021 average on FOX, NFLN + PV (2.11 million vs. 1.90 million).
o TNF was the most-watched prime time NFL game of the week five times during the 2023 season among P18-34.
o Throughout the 2023 season, TNF’s P18-34 viewership crossed the 2.5 million mark six times, while the 2022 TNF on Prime season posted three games that crossed the 2.5 million mark.
o Throughout the 2023 season, 20% of TNF on Prime’s viewers were in the P18-34 demographic, compared to 14% of viewers watching the NFL on linear networks.
o Throughout the Fall 2023 season, only 7% of viewers watching prime time broadcast television are in the P18-34 demographic.
Strong Viewership Gains Among P18-49
- TNFon Prime’s average viewership among P18-49 was 5.49 million viewers, marking an increase of +17% over the previous year (vs. 4.70 million).
o Among P18-49, TNF won the night all 15 times across competing programming on broadcast and cable.
o Throughout the 2023 season, TNF’s P18-49 viewership crossed the 5-million mark nine times, while the 2022 TNF on Prime season posted four games that crossed the 5-million mark.
o Throughout the 2023 season, 46% of TNF on Prime’s viewers were in the P18-49 demographic, compared to 34% of viewers watching the NFL on linear networks.
o Throughout the Fall season, only 21% of viewers watching prime time broadcast television are in the P18-49 demographic.
Female Viewership of TNF Posts Meaningful Gain in 2023
• TNF on Prime’s average viewership among F2+ was 3.86 million viewers.
o The 2023 TNF on Prime average among F2+ marks an increase of +30% over the 2022 TNF on Prime season (vs. 2.98 million).
TNF Pregame and Postgame Shows Register Significant Viewership Growth
• Despite no lead-in programming, TNF Tonight attracted an average audience (P2+) of 1.39 million viewers throughout the 2023 season, marking a +24% uptick over its 2022 average (vs. 1.12 million).
o Across the key demographics, TNF Tonight averaged 245,000 viewers in P18-34 (+7% vs. 2022) and 583,000 in P18-49 (+12% vs. 2022).
- TNF Kickoff, which streams from 8—8:15PM ET each week, attracted an average audience (P2+) of 5.27 million viewers throughout the 2023 season, marking a +31% increase over its 2022 average (vs. 4.03 million).
o Across the key demographics, TNF Kickoff averaged 885,000 viewers in P18-34 (+19% vs. 2022) and 2.11 million in P18-49 (+21% vs. 2022).
- TNF Postgame, which streams for 10 minutes immediately following the game’s conclusion each week, attracted an average audience (P2+) of 3.96 million viewers throughout the 2023 season, marking a +19% increase over its 2022 average (vs. 3.32 million).
o Across the key demographics, TNF Postgame averaged 913,000 viewers in P18-34 (+12% vs. 2022) and 2.14M in P18-49 (+14% vs. 2022).
- TNF Nightcap, a 30-minute show that immediately followsTNF Postgame, attracted an average audience (P2+) of 1.85 million viewers throughout the 2023 season and consistently outperformed all competing programming across broadcast and cable.
o TNF Nightcap’s 2023 average marks a +10% increase over its 2022 average (vs. 1.68 million) among total viewers.
TNF Viewers Command Higher Household Incomes
According to Nielsen’s most recent data, TNF on Prime viewers earned a median household income of $101,000 throughout the 2023 season, which is +16% higher than audiences watching the NFL on linear networks ($87,300).
Nielsen’s custom Integrated Live Streaming Report
Prior to the start of the 2023 season, Nielson introduced a measurement enhancement that combines Amazon’s first party viewing signal aggregated from the millions of connected TV devices streaming TNF with Nielsen’s panel-based TV measurement. Nielsen then includes their out-of-home (OOH), local station (OTA), and computer/mobile measurement to provide a comprehensive, cross-platform view of the TNF audience.
- According to Nielsen’s custom Integrated Live Streaming Report, Prime Video averaged 12.95 million viewers (average minute audience) across all media platforms during the 2023TNF on Prime season.
o Please note that Nielsen’s custom Integrated Live Streaming Report is currently under review by the Media Rating Council and is not presently accredited.
Prime Video Launches New NFL Tentpole Event With First-Ever Black Friday Football Game
On Friday, November 24, 2023, Prime Video launched a new holiday tradition on the national sports calendar. On a day filled with established traditions that span shopping, travel, and the enjoyment of Thanksgiving leftovers, Black Friday Football (BFF) attracted a significant audience to a previously untapped afternoon time slot as the Miami Dolphins handed a 34-13 defeat to the New York Jets.
- According to Nielsen National TV Ratings (panel only),BFF on Prime Video averaged 9.61 million viewers, setting a viewership benchmark for this unprecedented NFL event.
o Viewership peaked at 11.64 million viewers.
BFF was the most-watched event of the day among total viewers and across all key demos, averaging 1.77 million in P18-34 (+220% over the No. 2 program) and 4.28 million in P18-49 (+229% over the No. 2 program).
