CBS Sports still thinks there is plenty of room to grow with NFL viewership after a triple crown win last year as the league’s most-viewed network and the broadcaster with the most-watched single game and most-watched broadcast window.
The climb will undoubtedly be steeper for CBS Sports as it will be without some key building blocks in 2026, including a Chiefs-Bills game that had been something of an annual network tradition and is instead going to NBC this year, or a late-afternoon Thanksgiving broadcast that typically leads all NFL regular-season games each year.
Still, CBS Sports president and CEO David Berson said he’s optimistic after last season, which included an NFL regular-season record for a Chiefs-Cowboys game on Thanksgiving that averaged 57.2 million viewers, and milestones such as being the league’s No. 1 broadcaster (21.3 million viewership average) and top game window (Sunday late afternoon, 25.8 million viewership average).
“We had a great viewership season last year, but it’s not any one game that does that,” Berson said in response to a Front Office Sports question Tuesday at the network’s NFL media day in New York. “We have a lot of fantastic matchups in our schedule, and we are confident about having another great season.”
