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For years, TV executives believed the audience for live events was disappearing.

The data seemed clear.

Cord-cutting. Fragmentation. Decline.

But millions of viewers never left.

They just stopped watching from their couches.

They watched in bars.

Airports.

Gyms.

Waiting rooms.

Places television had always lived, but measurement hadn’t.

When Nielsen finally began counting those viewers, the story changed.

And one winner towered over the rest.

As TV scattered, attention concentrated.

On Sundays.

Around football.

The NFL did not just survive the decline of television.

It became television.

Let’s break it down into four big questions:
1) Which networks had the largest primetime audience?
2) Which linear telecasts had the largest audience?
3) What share of top TV telecasts does the NFL account for?
4) Why did live events grow viewership by so much?

Which networks had the largest primetime audience?

Top 10 networks by total primetime viewers in 2025 (Variety):
1) CBS - 4.4M (↓ 12%)
2) NBC - 4.2M (↓ 15%)
3) ABC - 4.0M (↑ 5%)
4) Fox - 3.1M (↑ 10%)
5) Fox News - 2.8M (↑ 12%)
6) ESPN - 2.0M (↑ 18%)
7) Univision - 1.1M (↑ 18%)
8) Telemundo - 993K (↑ 3%)
9) MSNBC - 937K (↓ 26%)
10) TNT - 774K (↓ 5%)

Context: Linear TV is down 32% since 2021.

Any network declining less than that is outperforming the market.

Which linear telecasts had the largest audience?

Top 10 TV telecasts of 2025 by total viewers (Nielsen):
1) Super Bowl LIX, KC-PHL (Fox/Tubi) - 127.7M
2) AFC Championship Game, BUF-KC (CBS) - 57.4M
3) Late Thanksgiving Day Game, KC-DAL (CBS) - 57.2M
4) Early Thanksgiving Day Game, GB-DET (Fox) - 47.7M
5) NFC Championship Game, WAS-PHL (Fox) - 44.2M
6) AFC Divisional Playoff, BAL-BUF (CBS) - 42.9M
7) NFC Divisional Playoff, LAR-PHL (NBC) - 37.9M
8) Address to Joint Session (multiple networks) - 36.6M
9) NFC Wild Card Playoff, GB-PHL (Fox) - 35.9M
10) NFC Divisional Playoff, WAS-DET (Fox) - 34.6M

What share of top TV telecasts does the NFL account for?

NFL share of top 100 TV telecasts (Nielsen):
1) 2018 - 61%
2) 2019-  73%
3) 2020 - 72%
4) 2021 - 75%
5) 2022 - 82%
6) 2023 - 93%
7) 2024 - 72%
8) 2025 - 83%

Top 100 telecasts by category (Nielsen):
1) NFL football - 83%
2) College football - 7%
3) Politics - 3%
4) Major League Baseball - 2%
5) Awards & Parades - 2%
6) Boxing - 1%
7) College Basketball - 1%
8) Kentucky Derby - 1%

Why did live events grow viewership by so much?

In February, Nielsen finalized nationwide out-of-home measurement.

That matters. A lot.

It is true that events like the Super Bowl and Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade are more popular than ever.  It is also true that how we count viewership has changed.

Viewership for late Thanksgiving Day Game, DAL-KC (CBS)(Sportico):
1) In-home only - 35M (61%)
2) Out-of-home - 22M (39%)
3) Total - 57M

Wow: 39% percent of the audience would have been missed previously.

Live events are more popular.
Measurement also changed.

Which means comparisons to past years are no longer apples-to-apples.