CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Browns’ return to Sunday Night Football after an 11-year absence was a successful one…at least in the television ratings.
Despite the Browns suffering a 20-13 loss to the reigning NFC Champion Los Angeles Rams at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland Sunday night, fans watched the game in record numbers, in Northeast Ohio and Columbus.
NBC’s Sunday Night Football broadcast from Cleveland during a 12.8/23 overnight rating, which does not include the digital audience who watched the game. The NBC broadcast peaked at a 13.5/23 from 9:15-9:30 p.m./ET. That time frame corresponds to when the Browns drew even with, and then, took a 6-3 lead over the Rams heading into halftime.
In Cleveland, the Browns-Rams broadcast had a 38.5 household rating, which equated to a 60 share in the market, meaning 60 percent of all televisions were tuned to the NBC Sunday Night Football game. Cleveland saw a 16 percent increase in viewership from the Browns’ last appearance on Sunday Night Football (September 14, 2008), when they drew a 33.1 household rating and a 52 share of the market.
In Columbus, the Browns’ first Sunday Night Football game since 2008 drew a 23.8 household rating with a 39 percent share. It was the highest rating ever for an NBC Sunday Night Football game in Ohio’s capital city.
The game drew well in other markets, too, as New Orleans, Dayton, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, Tulsa, Las Vegas and Denver rounded out the top 10 metered markets for the game. The broadcast also drew top-15 ratings in West Palm Beach, Florida and Los Angeles.
Currently, the Browns are not slated for another appearance on Sunday Night Football this season, but with the NFL’s ability to flex late-season games into primetime, Cleveland could very well be featured on the league’s flagship telecast again in 2019 if they are in the hunt for a playoff spot.
The Browns have one more appearance on Monday Night Football (at the San Francisco 49ers on October 7) and a Thursday Night Football tilt against the Pittsburgh Steelers at FirstEnergy Stadium on November 14 remaining on the schedule.
The Browns (1-2) won their first primetime game of the season, 23-3, over the New York Jets on Monday Night Football on September 16.