Preliminary Ratings: Thursday 09/04/14

There really is only one thing to talk about from Thursday night's ratings. The first game of the NFL SEASON, on NBC. I think it is an understatement to say that NBC swept the night, posting the best ratings of the five networks.

NBC kicked of it's primetime coverage of the NFL season with the annual KICK-OFF Thursday night game, featuring the Seattle Seahawks vs the Green Bay Packers. The game itself drew 23.4 million viewers and a 9.0 demo rating, more than quadrupling the A18-49 rating BIG BROTHER earned. But, currently, the 2014 game is down nearly two million viewers and 13% in the demo ratings, from the 2013 kick-off game. It didn't help that the game started to be a blow out early in the second half, turning viewers to bed earlier then planned.

Another factor that could have played a role in a downturn in the game's ratings is there was no Peyton Manning in the mix. Last season, his primetime games were all among the top rated games of the season. We'll see if the Sunday night game, Denver vs Indy, can top the kick-off game.

Good news for NBC is that both the Kick-off show and Pre-kick were well above last year's shows, by close to six million viewers each. Bad news is that CBS will now have the next 8 Thursday nights and NBC will have to battle for the weekly wins that came so easy last season.

Preliminary Network Averages:

ABC - 1.9 million viewers, 0.4 rating in A18-49

CBS - 5.7 million viewers, 1.5 rating in A18-49

CW - 0.5 million viewers, 0.2 rating in A18-49

FOX - 2.2 million viewers, 0.5 rating in A18-49

NBC - 22.5 million viewers, 8.4 rating in A18-49

Time	Net	Program	Viewers*	A18-49	+/-
8:00	ABC	The Quest	1.56	0.3
10:00	ABC	Shark Tank [R]	2.56	0.6	64%
8:00	CBS	The Big Bang Theory [R]	8.20	1.8
8:30	CBS	The Millers [R]	5.86	1.4	-29%
9:00	CBS	Big Brother	6.36	2.2	9%
10:00	CBS	Elementary [R]	3.60	0.8	-43%
8:00	CW	The Vampire Diaries [R]	0.52	0.2
9:00	CW	The Originals [R]	0.49	0.2	-6%
8:00	FOX	Sleepy Hollow [R]	1.64	0.5
9:00	FOX	Bones [R]	2.69	0.6	64%
8:00	NBC	NFL Kick-off 2014	16.76	5.7
8:30	NBC	NFL Pre-Kick	24.67	8.8	47%
8:45	NBC	NFL SNF (GB at SEA)	23.40	9.0	-5%

* - in millions