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On February 5, 2014, in a partnership with CBS Sports,
CBS announced that it would air Thursday night NFL games in simulcast with NFL Network during weeks
2 through 8 and a Saturday doubleheader game during
Week 16 of the 2014 regular season.
The remainder of the games will air on NFL Network, and will be simulcast on broadcast television stations in the primary markets of the participating teams.
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12,7
The plan was to build interest for Thursday Night
Football, which, compared to NBC’s Sunday Night
Football, has struggled.
11,7
10,5
8,9
8.0
4,4
4.0
2,8
3,2
4,5
HH Rating RA18-49
2013 NBC Sunday Night Football
RA25-54 RM18-49
2013 NFLN Thursday Night Football
RM25-54
Source: Nielsen, Live+SD deliveries, 9/12/13-12/12/13
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4

The result was a success…on CBS.
Weeks 2-8 (9/11-10/23/14)
10,3
8,8
8.0
6,6
5.9
1,8
1,3 1,4
2.0
2,2
HH Rating RA18-49 RA25-54
2014 CBS Thursday Night Football
RM18-49
2014 NFLN ThursdayNight Football
RM25-54
Source: Nielsen, Live+SD deliveries, 9/11/14-10/23/14
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The CBS local affiliates had tremendous success as well, even despite games that were somewhat lopsided.
The following charts highlight the
Men 25-54 deliveries nationally, and in each of the two teams’ home markets.
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Local*
Rating Men 25-54
AVERAGE
19,2
3.1
8,8
National
2,2
CBS NFLN
Local average is each week’s Men 25-54 home market delivery for the two teams playing, including Baltimore & Pittsburgh (Wk. 1), Atlanta & Tampa
Bay (Wk. 2), NY & DC (Wk. 3), Minneapolis (Wk. 4), Houston (Wk. 5), NY & Boston (Wk. 6) and Denver (Wk. 7). Some teams are in metered markets only (not LPM), and have only household ratings available.
Source: Nielsen, Live+SD deliveries, 10/23/14 & 9/11/14-10/23/14
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Baltimore
September 11, 2014
Rating Men 25-54
September 18, 2014
28.0
Tampa Bay
9.6
5,6 3,3
26,7 9,3
Pittsburgh
1,6
Atlanta
3,9
10,3 6,8
National National
2,2 1,7
CBS NFLN CBS NFLN
26 6
Source: Nielsen, Live+SD deliveries, 9/11/14 & 9/18/14
54 14
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D.C.
September 25, 2014
Rating Men 25-54
October 2, 2014
15.3
Minneapolis
3,9 1,8
11,4
New York
2,3
Milwaukee
Milwaukee is a Metered Market.
RM25-54 N/A.
National
2,2
8,9
CBS NFLN
National
1,9
8,4
CBS NFLN
25.1
45 14
Source: Nielsen, Live+SD deliveries, 9/25/14 & 10/2/14
42 10
9

Houston
October 9, 2014
Rating Men 25-54
October 16, 2014
16.8
Boston
3.0
4.0
9,9
Indianapolis
Indianapolis is a Metered Market.
RM25-54 N/A.
New York
1,1
National
8,7
2,3
CBS NFLN
National
2,1
8,3
CBS NFLN
27.4
33 28
Source: Nielsen, Live+SD deliveries, 10/9/14 & 10/16/14
27 25
10

Rating Men 25-54
October 23, 2014
Denver
4.0
32.2
San Diego San Diego is a Metered Market.
RM25-54 N/A.
National
2,4
10,3
CBS NFLN
21
Source: Nielsen, Live+SD deliveries, 10/23/14
35
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NFLN’s post-CBS deliveries vs. 2013…and the results have not been that impressive!
4,6
4,4
Weeks 9-12 & 14-16 (10/30-12/18/14)
4.0
3.8
3,1
3,2
2.7
2,8
4,3
4,5
HH Rating RA18-49
2014 NFLN (Post CBS) Thursday Night Football
RA25-54 RM18-49 RM25-54
2013 NFLN Thursday Night Football Full Season Average
Source: Nielsen, Live+SD deliveries, 9/12-12/12/13 & 10/30-11/20/14 & 12/4-12/18/14
(Wk. 13 Thanksgiving Prime game on NBC)
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Charlotte
Rating Men 25-54
October 30, 2014 November 6, 2014
17.0
Cleveland
5,1 6,7
New Orleans New Orleans is a Metered Market.
RM25-54 N/A.
Cincinnati
Cincinnati is a Metered Market.
RM25-54 N/A.
28.3
National
3,7
WBTV NFLN
National
5.0
WOIO NFLN
28 10
Source: Nielsen, Live+SD deliveries, 10/30/14 & 11/6/14
24 3
14

Miami
Rating Men 25-54
November 13, 2014 November 20, 2014
9.0
SF-Oakland-S. Jose
7,3 5,2
5.8
Buffalo
Buffalo is a Metered Market.
RM25-54 N/A.
Kansas City Kansas City is a Metered Market.
RM25-54 N/A.
National National
4,5
WFOR NFLN KPIX NFLN
4.6
22 9
Source: Nielsen, Live+SD deliveries, 11/13/14 & 11/20/14
24 20
15

Rating Men 25-54
December 4, 2014 December 11, 2014
18.2
Dallas-Ft. Worth Phoenix
4,6 7,3
15,6 9,9
Chicago St. Louis
6.1
6.0
13.6
National
5,4
KTVT / WBBM NFLN
National
4.3
KPHO / KMOV NFLN
41 28 12
Source: Nielsen, Live+SD deliveries, 12/4/14 & 12/11/14 (Week 13 11/27/14 Prime Thanksgiving game on NBC)
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Rating Men 25-54
December 18, 2014
Jacksonville
Jacksonville is a Metered Market.
RM25-54 N/A.
Nashville
Nashville is a Metered Market.
RM25-54 N/A.
National
0 2
2,6
4
NFLN
6 8 10
13
Source: Nielsen, Live+SD deliveries, 12/18/14
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In Weeks 2-8, CBS nationally averaged a 10.3 HH Rating and an 8.8
RM25-54. The same games on NFLN averaged a 1.8 HH Rating and a
2.2 RM25-54.
Local CBS affiliates had even greater success with the games. Looking at the home markets of the teams playing, local CBS affiliates averaged a 19.2 RM25-54, compared to the 3.1 RM25-54 on NFLN.
The remaining Thursday games so far (Weeks 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15 &
16) have averaged a 4.6 HH Rating on NFLN, with a 4.3 RM25-54
(these games were NOT simulcast on CBS). Compared to last year,
RM25-54 is down -4%.
While these games are no longer simulcast in CBS, they are simulcast in the two teams markets. Local stations continue to be the preferred venue to enjoy the game. For example, in Week 10, WOIO in
Cleveland delivered a 28.3 RM25-54, as opposed to the 6.7 RM25-54 on NFLN in the market.
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