NBC drew an overnight TV rating of 16.5 rating/29 share (16.5 percent of households tuned in and 29 percent of households with TVs in use watched) for the Broncos’ season-opening victory against the Panthers on Thursday.
The rating was a 7 percent decrease from last year’s NFL Kickoff game but marked the seventh-consecutive year in which the opener topped 16.0. The 29 share tied the second-best for an NFL Kickoff game in history, behind last year’s Pittsburgh-New England game (17.7/30).
Denver (46.9/74) and Charlotte, N.C. (33.2/52) were the top markets for the game on NBC, followed by Greensboro, N.