Primetime Ratings: ‘Thursday Night Football’ Drops Amid Falcons’ Blowout

CBS’ second Thursday Night Football telecast of the season suffered a huge drop from last week due to the Atlanta Falcons’ 56-14 blowout of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The game drew an 8.5 overnight household rating Thursday (6.8 on CBS, 1.7 on NFL Network simulcast), down almost 40% from last week’s game, but still 4% above the second Thursday Night Football game last year, which aired on NFL Network and local over-the-air stations.

The 42-point win for the Falcons was the largest margin of victory since the league began airing games on Thursday nights. CBS still easily led Thursday among the broadcasters.

NBC’s The Biggest Loser was down 19% from last week’s season premiere with a 1.3 overnight Nielsen rating among viewers 18-49—a series low. NBC averaged a 1.2 rating and 4 share to finish second on the night among the Big Four.

ABC (0.7/2), Fox (0.5/2) and the CW (0.2/1) aired reruns.