2016 "Thursday Night Football" Broadcast Schedule Announced

NFL Network, CBS and NBC Partner to Broadcast 'Thursday Night Football' Presented by Bud Light

Twitter to Live Stream 10 'Thursday Night Football' Games

NFL Network, CBS, NBC and Twitter announced the Thursday Night Football primetime broadcast schedule for the 2016 NFL season today. This season marks the first year that NBC has joined NFL Network and CBS to broadcast Thursday Night Football, as well as the first season of a new streaming partnership with Twitter.

Presented by Bud Light, the slate of 18 regular season Thursday Night Football games kicks off with Rex Ryan and the Buffalo Bills hosting the New York Jets on Thursday, September 15 on CBS (simulcast on NFL Network and streamed on Twitter) and features 13 Divisional matchups and 11 playoff teams from 2015. All 18 regular season Thursday Night Football games will be televised nationally by NFL Network, either exclusively or as a simulcast of the respective CBS or NBC broadcast.

CBS and NBC are each scheduled to broadcast five Thursday Night Football games, with NFL Network scheduled to televise eight games -- including two Saturday games and two Sunday games. Both CBS and NBC will produce Thursday Night Football with their lead broadcasters and production teams, and both will contribute to the production of Thursday Night Football exclusively on NFL Network.

Twitter will stream the 10 Thursday Night Football games broadcast by CBS and NBC and simulcast by NFL Network, providing free, live streaming video without authentication to the over 800 million registered and non-registered users worldwide on the Twitter platform on mobile phones, tablets, PCs and connected TVs. In addition to streaming the games, the Twitter partnership includes in-game highlights from Thursday Night Football and unique Periscope live streams, giving fans an immersive experience.

All Thursday Night Football games kickoff at 8:25 PM ET, with the exception of the New York Giants vs. Los Angeles Rams at 9:30 AM ET on Sunday, October 23 from London (Week 7) and the Baltimore Ravens vs. Pittsburgh Steelers at 4:30 PM ET on Sunday, December 25 (Week 16). Both games will be televised nationally by NFL Network.

The entire 18-game Thursday Night Football schedule will also be streamed live on the NFL Mobile from Verizon app (NFL.com/mobile), the NFL app on XBOX, including interactive features from Microsoft, and through Watch NFL Network on tablets, PCs and various connected TV devices (NFL.com/watch), with participating television providers.

The Thursday Night Football schedule on CBS, simulcast on NFL Network and streamed on Twitter includes:

Sept. 15 (Week 2): Jets at Bills

Sept. 22 (Week 3): Texans at Patriots

Oct. 6 (Week 5): Cardinals at 49ers

Oct. 13 (Week 6): Broncos at Chargers

Oct. 20 (Week 7): Bears at Packers

The Thursday Night Football schedule on NBC, simulcast on NFL Network and streamed on Twitter includes:

Nov. 17 (Week 11): Saints at Panthers

Dec. 1 (Week 13): Cowboys at Vikings

Dec. 8 (Week 14): Raiders at Chiefs

Dec. 15 (Week 15): Rams at Seahawks

Dec. 22 (Week 16): Giants at Eagles

The Thursday Night Football schedule on NFL Network includes:

Sept. 29 (Week 4): Dolphins at Bengals

Oct. 23 (Week 7): Giants at Rams (Sun.)

Oct. 27 (Week 8): Jaguars at Titans

Nov. 3 (Week 9): Falcons at Buccaneers

Nov. 10 (Week 10): Browns at Ravens

Dec. 17 (Week 15): Dolphins at Jets (Sat.)

Dec. 24 (Week 16): Bengals at Texans (Sat.)

Dec. 25 (Week 16): Ravens at Steelers (Sun.)

About Thursday Night Football

Thursday Night Football started in 2006 with an eight-game schedule exclusively on NFL Network. By 2012, Thursday Night Football had grown to a 13-game schedule exclusively on NFL Network, where it remained through the 2013 season. For both the 2014 and 2015 seasons, CBS partnered with NFL Network to present an expanded 16-game Thursday Night Football schedule.

In February of 2016, the NFL announced that both CBS and NBC would broadcast five Thursday Night Football games, growing the package to 10 broadcast games in 2016 and 2017 from eight in 2014 and 2015.

For the 16 games of the 2015 schedule, Thursday Night Football on CBS and NFL Network (and over-the-air stations) averaged a 7.9 HH rating and 13.0M viewers, up +59% and +61% respectively from 2013 when there were 13 games solely on NFL Network. The 2015 season was the most-watched and highest-rated Thursday Night Football season ever.

Popularity of NFL Games

NFL content has never been more popular across the media landscape. According to the Nielsen Company, 199 million people tuned into the 2015 NFL regular season representing 78 percent of all television homes and 67 percent of potential viewers in the U.S. NFL games accounted for the top 25 and 46 of the 50 most-watched TV shows among all programming in 2015.

2016 Thursday Night Football Schedule

Week 2: Thursday, September 15 (CBS/NFL Network/Twitter)

New York Jets @ Buffalo Bills

Week 3: Thursday, September 22 (CBS/NFL Network/Twitter)

Houston Texans @ New England Patriots

Week 4: Thursday, September 29 (NFL Network)

Miami Dolphins @ Cincinnati Bengals

Week 5: Thursday, October 6 (CBS/NFL Network/Twitter)

Arizona Cardinals @ San Francisco 49ers

Week 6: Thursday, October 13 (CBS/NFL Network/Twitter)

Denver Broncos @ San Diego Chargers

Week 7: Thursday, October 20 (CBS/NFL Network/Twitter)

Chicago Bears @ Green Bay Packers

Week 7: Sunday, October 23 (NFL Network)

New York Giants @ Los Angeles Rams (London)

Week 8: Thursday, October 27 (NFL Network)

Jacksonville Jaguars @ Tennessee Titans

Week 9: Thursday, November 3 (NFL Network)

Atlanta Falcons @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Week 10: Thursday, November 10 (NFL Network)

Cleveland Browns @ Baltimore Ravens

Week 11: Thursday, November 17 (NBC/NFL Network/Twitter)

New Orleans Saints @ Carolina Panthers

Week 13: Thursday, December 1 (NBC/NFL Network/Twitter)

Dallas Cowboys @ Minnesota Vikings

Week 14: Thursday, December 8 (NBC/NFL Network/Twitter)

Oakland Raiders @ Kansas City Chiefs

Week 15: Thursday, December 15 (NBC/NFL Network/Twitter)

Los Angeles Rams @ Seattle Seahawks

Week 15: Saturday, December 17 (NFL Network)

Miami Dolphins @ New York Jets

Week 16: Thursday, December 22 (NBC/NFL Network/Twitter)

New York Giants @ Philadelphia Eagles

Week 16: Saturday, December 24 (NFL Network)

Cincinnati Bengals @ Houston Texans

Week 16: Sunday, December 25 (NFL Network)

Baltimore Ravens @ Pittsburgh Steelers