NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� The ageless Tom Brady is due a thank you note from NBC.
The Tampa Bay Bucs quarterback helped the network to a smashing audience of 24.8 million viewers for the NFL kickoff game, where he took on and defeated the Dallas Cowboys. That's up from last year's season opener, which reached 19.3 million.
It was a less attractive matchup for the season debut of 鈥淪unday Night Football,鈥� where the Chicago Bears and L.A. Rams were seen by 17.6 million. That's down from the 2020 season debut of the Sunday night franchise, seen by 18.9 million.
Two prime-time football games led NBC to a weekly ratings win, as it averaged 7.8 million viewers. CBS had 3.5 million viewers in prime time, ABC had 3 million, Fox had 2.4 million, Univision had 1.4 million, Ion Television had 1.12 million and Telemundo had 1.06 million.
Fox News Channel led the cable networks in prime time, averaging 2.23 million viewers. ESPN had 1.89 million, HGTV had 1.07 million, MSNBC had 1.06 million and TLC had 910,000.
ABC's 鈥淲orld News Tonight鈥� won the evening news ratings race, averaging 7.8 million viewers. NBC's 鈥淣ightly News鈥� had 6.4 million and the 鈥淐BS Evening News鈥� had 4.6 million.
For the week of Sept. 6-12, the 20 most popular programs in prime time, their networks and viewerships:
1. NFL Football: Dallas at Tampa Bay, NBC, 24.81 million.
2. NFL Football: Chicago at L.A. Rams," NBC, 17.64 million.
3. 鈥淣FL Pregame鈥� (Thursday), NBC, 16.21 million.
4. 鈥淣FL Pregame鈥� (Sunday), NBC, 12.81 million.
5. 鈥淣FL Kickoff,鈥� NBC, 10.42 million.
6. 鈥�60 Minutes,鈥� CBS, 9.98 million.
7. 鈥淔ootball Night in America, Part 3,鈥� NBC, 9.97 million.
8. 鈥淎merica's Got Talent鈥� (Tuesday), NBC, 6.9 million.
9. 鈥淔ootball Night in America, Part 2,鈥� NBC, 6.5 million.
10. 鈥淎merica's Got Talent" (Wednesday), NBC, 5.95 million.
11. 鈥淭he O.T.,鈥� Fox, 5.78 million.
12. College Football: Washington at Michigan, ABC, 4.75 million.
13. 鈥淏ig Brother鈥� (Sunday), CBS, 4.223 million.
14. 鈥淐elebrity Family Feud,鈥� ABC, 4.218 million.
15. 鈥淎merica's Funniest Home Videos,鈥� ABC, 4.07 million.
16. 鈥淏ig Brother鈥� (Wednesday), CBS, 3.89 million.
17. 鈥淏ig Brother鈥� (Thursday), CBS, 3.86 million.
18. 鈥淔BI" (Thursday, 8 p.m.), CBS, 3.42 million.
19. 鈥淔BI鈥� (Thursday, 9 p.m.), CBS, 3.37 million.
20. 鈥�20/20鈥� (Friday, 9 p.m.), ABC, 3.34 million.
David Bauder, The Associated Press
