Five of top 10 most-watched prime-time telecasts of 2023 were Chiefs games

Pete Grathoff
·2 min read
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Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) hugs Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid as Tammy Reid looks on after the Chiefs won Super Bowl LVII, defeating the the Philadelphia Eagles, 38-35, on Sunday, Feb. 12, 2023, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
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When the NFL puts together its schedule each year, the networks angle for the best possible matchups to generate big ratings.

Mike North, vice president of NFL broadcast planning and scheduling, admitted last year that the Chiefs are in high demand from the league’s broadcast partners.

“When we build the schedule, you could make, arguably, the perfect television schedule, whatever that means, nothing but Dallas and Kansas City in prime time and television windows all 17 weeks of the year,” North said on “The Season with Peter Schrager” podcast.

The may seem like hyperbole, but consider this: five of the top 10 most-watched prime-time telecasts of 2023 were Chiefs games. That’s according to data from Variety, which shared a list of the top 100 prime-time programs.

The Chiefs’ 38-35 victory over the Eagles in Super Bowl LVII topped the list, as one might expect. Kansas City’s win over the Bengals in the AFC Championship Game ranked second, and Chiefs games made up four of the top seven and five of the top 10.

Only one other team had three games make the top 10: the San Francisco 49ers.

Twenty of the top 21 most-watched programs in 2023, including the top 14 spots, were NFL games. All told, 45 NFL games made the top 100.

All five of the Chiefs’ prime-time games this season were among the top 32 most-watched telecasts. That includes their “Monday Night Football” game against the Eagles on ABC. Coverage of that game on ESPN also cracked the top 50.

The Chiefs played in the highest-rated NFL games that were shown in prime time on a Thursday, Sunday and Monday in 2023.

Here are the Chiefs games that made the top 50 most-watched programs of 2023 along with the viewership numbers.

No. 1: Super Bowl LVII, 114.956 million on Fox (Feb. 12)

No. 2: AFC Championship Game, 53.478 million on CBS (Jan. 29)

No. 6: Chiefs vs. Lions in NFL Kickoff Game, 25.042 million on NBC (Sept. 7)

No. 7: Chiefs at Jets on “Sunday Night Football,” 25.021 million on NBC (Oct. 1)

No. 10: Chiefs at Packers on “Sunday Night Football,” 23.812 million on NBC (Dec. 3)

No. 27: Chiefs vs. Eagles on “Monday Night Football,” 15.714 million on ABC (Nov. 20)

No. 32: Chiefs vs. Broncos on “Thursday Night Football,” 14.077 million on Amazon Prime (Oct. 12)

No. 49: Chiefs vs. Eagles on “Monday Night Football,” 11.642 million on ESPN (Nov. 20)