NBC Sports' two NFL Kickoff Weekend games were most watched since the creation of the NFL Kickoff Weekend, highlighted by the "Sunday Night Football" season opener (Bears-Packers) which was the most watched season opening SNF game since the much-hyped "Manning Bowl" (Colts-Giants) game in the 2006 SNF opener, according to final national data provided by Nielsen Media Research.

The two-game average audience for the Thursday night NFL Kickoff (Steelers-Titans) and the opening SNF game is 21.0 million viewers, a gain of 32 percent over 2008 (15.9 million), 17 percent over 2007 (18.0 million) and one percent over 2006 (20.9 million).

NFL KICKOFF WEEKEND SINCE 2002
*Primetime two game average viewership
(Thurs./Sun. on NBC; Thurs/Mon. on ABC)
2009: NBC – 21.0 million
2008: NBC – 15.9 million
2007: NBC – 18.0 million
2006: NBC – 20.9 million
2005: ABC – 18.8 million
2004: ABC – 17.8 million
2003: ABC – 19.3 million
2002: ESPN (Thurs.)/ABC (Mon.) – 15.0 million

BEST SINCE MANNING BOWL: The "Sunday Night Football" opener won by the Packers 21-15 drew 21.1 million viewers (8:32-11:48 p.m. ET) an increase of 15 percent over last year's SNF opener (Bears-Colts, 18.4 million) and 16 percent over the 2007 SNF opener (Giants-Cowboys, 18.2 million). The much-hyped "Manning Bowl," the first SNF game on NBC drew 22.6 million viewers and stands as the second most-viewed "Sunday Night Football" game ever.

The opening SNF game had a national household rating of 12.6 and a 21 share, up 13 percent from the 2008 SNF opener (Bears-Colts, 11.2/18), up nine percent from the 2007 SNF Opener (Giants-Dallas, 11.6/19). The "Manning Bowl," the 2006 SNF opener, is the highest-rated game in SNF history at a 14.3/23.

NBC's two-game household rating average is a 12.7/21 up 28 percent from 2008 (9.9/17), up nine percent from 2007 (11.6/19) and down just six percent from 2006 (13.5/22).

DOMINATED PRIMETIME: The Packers 21-15 victory dominated the night for NBC, beating ABC, CBS and Fox combined in total viewers, households and Adults 18-49.

NBC's 7:30-11 p.m. primetime averaged 17.8 million in total viewers and 7.2 in Adults 18-49 and representing the best Sunday night averages in both categories for any network since ABC's Academy Awards coverage on Feb. 22.

Source: NBC Sports

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Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey. He is available as a freelance writer. Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network (select his name in the dropdown provided).

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