18.7 million viewers tune in for Bengals-Cowboys

The Cowboys still draw a decent crowd, even when the Cowboys are barely decent.

Last night’s Bengals-Cowboys game on ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2 generated an average audience of 18.7 million viewers.

That said, the combined broadcast and cable audience wasn’t much bigger than Thursday’s streaming-only Packers-Lions audience initially reported by Prime Video, at 17.29 million. (Updated numbers released on Monday pushed the figure to 18.48 million.)

The NFL has expanded the ABC simulcasts in 2024, given the sluggish numbers being generated by the non-ABC telecasts.

The press release from ESPN also discloses the audience for the ManningCast at 900,000. This year, ESPN had not disclosed audience information when it dipped below one million.

No viewership details were provided for the Simpsons twist on the game, which was available only on ESPN+ and Disney+. Wild guess? Whatever it was, it wasn’t worth whatever they put into it.