More million tuned in to see the Cowboys game than the other two, so I’d say who actually plays the games does make an impact. That said, I think everyone expected a bigger number.
I’ve never wondered this before…Is it considered “viewer” if you only watch for 6 minutes, or is it you watch an hour…3 hours, etc?
May have hurt viewership because “Americas Team” got their American ass handed to them (loved it).
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It all comes down to Nielsen homes, actually.
One Neilsen home can represent thousands of “watchers.”
Sidenote: though they pay you, being a Nielsen home is an absolute pain in the ass, and not worth the few pennies they throw your way.
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The Lions in that first game are The Game That’s On While America Prepares to Eat and Eats. Background noise.
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Coincidentally enough, that’s exactly how the NFL looks at Detroit!
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It only makes sense that the game that starts at 4pm eastern would have better rating than one that starts at 12:30. as for the reason that Spiel54man stated, there are still a lot of people driving to friends and family, there are parades in some cities and there are 5K/10K’s in almost every city. By 2 or 3pm people are settling in. Not really that big of a surprise that they would draw more and probably the reason Dallas is on later.
But look at that, the Lions-Bears game still did better than the night game…but the Lions need to be taken off the T-day right? Like I stated in the other thread. It doesn’t matter who is playing, people will watch but the country is obsessed with football. Sure there might have been a few extra that tuned in to the Lions-Bears game since it was the only game that was actually close throughout the game and a few that tuned out the Cowboys-Bills blowout.
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FWIW, I was never arguing to get Detroit’s game taken away. I just didn’t see the entitlement to it, especially when the NFL, in it’s current form, only care about number$.
I couldn’t honestly care less if the Lions play on Thanksgiving anymore.
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Well I care that they do. Must be the difference between people who grew up with the 80s/90s Lions vs. someone who grew up with the garbage of the last 20 years.
Could be! 
I’d be sad if we lost the Thanksgiving game. But that sadness would be buried underneath decades of scorn and apathy
So mostly I wouldn’t care either
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We discussed it before the game, the Cowboys have the sweet spot when it comes to getting viewers. Our game is too early and the night game is too late. The Cowboys get massive ratings and I dont want to take that away from them, but it kind of reminds me of when they clear the entire 4pm schedule on a Sunday to force America to watch the Cowboys and then talk about how much better the ratings were than a different 4pm game in another week when that game was only shown in a portion of the country and had to compete against 2-3 other games.
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I love the Thanksgiving game. Having lived outside of Michigan for 60 of my 62 years it was the only time in most years I could actually watch them. Of course things are different now with technology. But in the 60’s and 70’s you could only watch your local team. So getting to see the lions play was special (even though they looked bad a lot of times).
I prefer the lions have the early slot. I watch them while I’m prepping, cooking and chilling then when dinner comes on I don’t have to worry about it
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same
Yeah, I think the Lions have the primetime spot. After that game is done, we all went and played with the kids outside and then traveled to my in-laws.
You have to remember, the 1pm slot would be something like 10am in California. The 4pm slot would be 1pm.