**Rising Viewership Numbers Highlight NFL's Prime-Time Appeal**

A recent Monday night NFL game featuring the Buffalo Bills against the New York Jets attracted an impressive 17.3 million viewers. This game, broadcasted via a simulcast across ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2, outperformed a previous Chiefs game that aired solely on ESPN, which garnered just under 16 million viewers.

The ABC simulcast, which had become common last season primarily due to multiple Hollywood strikes, was initially planned to be utilized less frequently in 2024. However, given the slipping cable-only audience figures, which are now trending closer to weekly Amazon streaming numbers, it's strategic to continue showcasing prime-time games on major networks like ABC.

Interestingly, this rise in traditional network viewership also comes a week after the "ManningCast"—an alternative broadcast featuring the Manning brothers—diverted 1.4 million viewers from the Saints-Chiefs match-up. ESPN has yet to announce the latest viewership numbers for the ManningCast, but the last reported figures had significantly dropped to an all-time low of 873,000 viewers.