NFL games were 29 of the 30 most-watched TV shows of the fall

http://blogs.mcall.com/groller/ FROM KEITH GROLLER For some reason, the NFL playoff races just weren't as compelling as in years past, but the returns of Peyton Manning and Adrian Peterson to top form and the emergence of rookies like RG3, Russell Wilson and Andrew Luck seemed to keep the interest at a high level throughout the season. The NFL just put out a release saying that 29 of the 30 highest-rated TV shows of the fall were NFL games. Frankly, that's not a surprise. The surprise is that the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade was the one non-football game to crack the top 30. Here's the release courtesy of the NFL: NFL GAME TELECASTS 29 OF 30 MOST-WATCHED TV SHOWS THIS FALL NFL Game Tops Ratings in All 30 Markets for Second Consecutive Week & Record Fifth Time in ‘12 An NFL game was the most-watched show on TV last week (Dec. 17-23) for the 16th time in 16 weeks of the NFL season with the FOX national telecast (mostly New York Giants-Baltimore Ravens) topping all sports and entertainment competition with 24.2 million viewers. Locally, an NFL game was the highest-rated show in all 30 NFL markets last week, marking the second consecutive week and the record fifth time this season that NFL games topped local ratings in all NFL markets. Previously there were four “30 for 30” weeks in the full 2010 and 2011 seasons. NFL games have topped local ratings 93 percent of the time this season (up from 90 percent at this point in ’11). For the season, NFL games rank as 29 of the 30 most-watched TV shows since Labor Day. Following are the most-watched programs this fall: Program Viewers 1. FOX Thanksgiving Game (Redskins-Cowboys), 11/22 28.7 million 2. NBC Sunday Night Football (Steelers-Broncos), 9/9 27.6 million 3. CBS Thanksgiving Game (Texans-Lions), 11/22 27.3 million 4. FOX Sunday National (mostly Giants-Cowboys), 10/28 26.9 million 5. CBS Sunday National (mostly Steelers-Cowboys), 12/16 26.9 million 6. FOX Sunday National (mostly 49ers-Packers), 9/9 26.4 million 7. FOX Sunday National (mostly 49ers-Saints), 11/25 24.9 million 8. CBS Sunday National (mostly Broncos-Patriots), 10/7 24.5 million 9. FOX Sunday National (mostly Saints-Giants), 12/9 24.5 million 10. FOX Sunday National (mostly Cowboys-Eagles), 11/11 24.3 million 11. FOX Sunday National (mostly Giants-Ravens),12/23 24.2 million 12. CBS Sunday National (mostly Steelers-Giants), 11/4 24.2 million 13. CBS Sunday National (mostly Texans-Broncos), 9/23 24.0 million 14. NBC Wed. Night Kickoff Game (Cowboys-Giants), 9/5 23.9 million 15. CBS Sunday National (Indy-NE & SD-Den), 11/18 23.6 million 16. NBC Sunday Night Football (49ers-Patriots), 12/16 23.2 million 17. CBS Sunday National (mostly Steelers-Ravens), 12/2 23.0 million 18. CBS Sunday National (mostly Jets-Patriots), 10/21 23.0 million 19. FOX Sunday National (mostly Giants-49ers), 10/14 22.8 million 20. NBC Sunday Night Football (Giants-Eagles), 9/30 22.8 million 21. NBC Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, 11/22 22.4 million 22. FOX Sunday National (mostly Saints-Packers), 9/30 22.3 million 23. NBC Sunday Night Football (Cowboys-Falcons), 11/4 21.8 million 24. FOX Sunday Single (mostly NYG-ATL & GB-Chi), 12/16 21.4 million 25. NBC Sunday Night Football (Lions-Packers), 12/9 21.4 million 26. NBC Sunday Night Football (Lions-49ers), 9/16 21.3 million 27. NBC Sunday Night Football (Patriots-Ravens), 9/23 21.3 million 28. FOX Sunday Single (mostly Minn-GB & TB-Den), 12/2 20.9 million 29. NBC Sunday Night Football (Texans-Bears), 11/11 20.9 million 30. NBC Sunday Night Football (Packers-Giants), 11/25 20.9 million Source: NFL & The Nielsen Company