"THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL'S" GIANTS-PANTHERS MOST WATCHED GAME ON CABLE TV; FIFTH HIGHEST-RATED GAME EVER ON NFL NETWORK
Average of 7 Million Viewers Watch Super Bowl
Champion Giants Defeat Panthers
Online Audience Pacing 52% Higher than 2011 Season Average
Following the most-watched Thursday Night Football season opener in NFL Network history, last night's New York Giants-Carolina Panthers game again delivered strong viewership numbers. The Giants-Panthers game was watched by an average of 7 million viewers (not including over-the-air stations in New York and Charlotte) - and averaged a 4.6 HH household rating ranking as the fifth highest-rated game in the seven seasons of Thursday Night Football and making it the No. 1 program on cable television for Thursday, September 20.
Last week's Thursday Night Football game between the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers was the most-watched season opener in NFL Network history with 8.6 million viewers. Through two games of its expanded 13-game schedule, Thursday Night Football is averaging a 5.0 US HH rating and 7.8 million viewers - on pace to be the highest-rated and most-watched Thursday Night Football season ever.
On the interactive front, through two weeks of the Thursday Night Football schedule, there has been an average of 675K unique users to NFL Digital Media platforms providing coverage and features around the games. That figure is pacing 52% ahead of the 2011 seasonal average (445K) for Thursday Night Football on NFL.com/LIVE, NFL Mobile from Verizon, and the NFL 12 tablet app.
Thursday Night Football continues next week with the Cleveland Browns visiting the Baltimore Ravens on Sept. 27 at 8:00 PM ET. The Thursday Night Kickoff Presented by Craftsman pregame show begins at 6:00 PM ET. All Thursday Night Football games are available in their entirety on NFL Mobile from Verizon with complementary online coverage via NFL.com/LIVE Thursday Night Football.
About NFL Network's 2012 Thursday Night Football
Play-by-play announcer Brad Nessler and Emmy-nominated analyst Mike Mayock return to the Thursday Night Football broadcast booth for the second season and are joined by Alex Flanagan, who enters her third year as the sideline reporter.
Two hours before kickoff, NFL Network's Thursday Night Kickoff Presented by Craftsman pregame show is live from the stadium starting at 6:00 PM ET, taking viewers right up to kickoff with analysis and the latest reports. Host Rich Eisen is joined by Hall of Famers Marshall Faulk, Deion Sanders and Michael Irvin, and former head coach Steve Mariucci. Reporter Stacey Dales provides pregame news reports from the locker rooms, as well as interviews with players and coaches.
The Lexus Halftime Show and the McDonald's Postgame Show provide additional analysis live from inside the stadium each week on Thursday Night Football.
Bollywood superstar and 2101 Records/Desi Hits!/ Interscope Records recording artist Priyanka Chopra is the featured artist for NFL Network's Thursday Night Kickoff Presented by Craftsman pregame show. Priyanka's debut single "In My City,' featuring will.i.am and produced by RedOne (Lady Gaga) and Brian Kennedy, is the music bed for the intro to Thursday Night Kickoff Presented by Craftsman. The release of the full song and accompanying video for "In My City" are expected later this fall. For more information on Priyanka Chopra, please visit priyankachopramusic.com.
Leading in to every Thursday Night Football game, Grammy Award-winning artist CeeLo Green sings the anthem entitled "I Love Football," set to The Ramones' "Blitzkrieg Bop." The 90-second show open for each Thursday Night Football game features fan-sourced videos uploaded by fans. To submit videos, please visit www.nfl.com/fanchise.
NFL Network 2012 Thursday Night Football Schedule
All games at 8:00 pm ET
· Week 2 - 9/13: Green Bay 23, Chicago 10
· Week 3 - 9/20: New York Giants 36, Carolina Panthers 7
· Week 4 - 9/27: Cleveland Browns at Baltimore Ravens
· Week 5 - 10/4: Arizona Cardinals at St. Louis Rams
· Week 6 - 10/11: Pittsburgh Steelers at Tennessee Titans
· Week 7 - 10/18: Seattle Seahawks at San Francisco 49ers
· Week 8 - 10/25: Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Minnesota Vikings
· Week 9 - 11/1: Kansas City Chiefs at San Diego Chargers
· Week 10 - 11/8: Indianapolis Colts at Jacksonville Jaguars
· Week 11 - 11/15: Miami Dolphins at Buffalo Bills
· Week 13 - 11/29: New Orleans Saints at Atlanta Falcons
· Week 14 - 12/6: Denver Broncos at Oakland Raiders
· Week 15 - 12/13: Cincinnati Bengals at Philadelphia Eagles
For the entire 2012 NFL schedule, visit www.NFL.com.
NFL Network broadcasts seven days a week, 24 hours a day on a year-round basis and is the only television network fully dedicated to the NFL and the sport of football. For fans on the go, all NFL Network programming is streamed live on NFL Mobile from Verizon. For more information, log on to www.nfl.com/nflnetwork. NFL.com is the exclusive internet home of NFL Network.
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