NFL NETWORK'S "THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL" DELIVERS A 5.0 US HH RATING AND 7.8 MILLION VIEWERS

Thursday's No. 1 Show on Cable - Rating & Viewership for 'Thursday Night Football' 28% Higher than Game 5 of AL Division Series between Tigers & A's

Through Five Thursday Games, Average Rating is Pacing +28% Versus 2012 'Thursday Night Football' Schedule

Last night's New York Giants-Chicago Bears game on NFL Network delivered a 5.0 US HH rating and was watched by an average of 7.8 million viewers (not including over-the-air stations in New York and Chicago). Won by the Bears 27-21, the telecast topped last week's Thursday Night Football game between the Buffalo Bills and Cleveland Browns by 19% in rating (4.2) and 13% in viewership (6.9 M).

Giants-Bears was Thursday's most-watched program among all shows on cable and topped the MLB AL Division Series Game 5 on TBS by nearly 1.7 million viewers (Detroit Tigers at Oakland A's: 3.9 US HH rating, 6.1 million viewers).

Through five games of its 13-game schedule, Thursday Night Football is averaging a 5.1 US HH rating (+28% vs. 2012 average) and 8.1 million viewers (+27% vs. 2012 average) - on pace to be the highest-rated and most-watched Thursday Night Football season ever.

Thursday Night Football continues next week as quarterback Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks travel to the desert to face wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald and the Arizona Cardinals in an NFC West showdown on October 17 at 8:00 PM ET. The Craftsman Presents NFL Total Access Kickoff pregame show begins at 6:00 PM ET.

All Thursday Night Football games are available in their entirety on NFL Mobile from Verizon with complementary online coverage via NFL.com/LIVE Thursday Night Football. Additionally, TNF Xtra is a free, downloadable feature on the NFL Mobile from Verizon app which offers a comprehensive second-screen companion to NFL Network's Thursday Night Football broadcast.

This year marks the eighth season of live regular season primetime games on NFL Network. Last year's edition of Thursday Night Football was the most-watched in the network's history with a record average of 7.3 million viewers per game, marking the fourth consecutive year that Thursday Night Football has set an all-time high viewership mark for NFL Network. Each week of the 2012 Thursday Night Football schedule, NFL Network's game telecast was the most-watched program on cable TV that day.

Thursday Night Football on NFL Network was first broadcast in 2006.

(Source: Nielsen Media Research, Live + Same Day viewing)

About NFL Network's 2013 Thursday Night Football

Play-by-play announcer Brad Nessler and Emmy-nominated analyst Mike Mayock return to the Thursday Night Football broadcast booth for the third season and are joined by Alex Flanagan, who enters her fourth year as the sideline reporter for NFL Network game telecasts.

Two hours before kickoff, NFL Network's Craftsman Presents NFL Total Access Kickoff pregame show is live from the stadium starting at 6:00 PM ET, taking viewers right up to kickoff with analysis and the latest reports. Host Rich Eisen is joined by Hall of Famers Marshall Faulk, Deion Sanders and Michael Irvin, and former head coach Steve Mariucci. Reporters Alex Flanagan and Stacey Dales provide pregame news reports from the locker rooms, as well as interviews with players and coaches. NFL Media's national insider Ian Rapoport and NFL Media's Mike Silver are also on-location to provide the latest insight from around the league.

The Lexus Halftime Show and Postgame Show provide additional analysis live from inside the stadium each week on Thursday Night Football.

International award-winning actress and recording artist Priyanka Chopra is the opening music act for NFL Network's 2013 Thursday Night Football schedule. Chopra's track "In My City" will be featured as the new theme for Thursday Night Football, premiering at the opening of each of the 13-primetime Thursday Night games. Click here for a behind-the-scenes video of the making of Chopra's Thursday Night Football opening: nfl.com/1dtPbvZ

Thursday Night Football on NFL Network will again be carried on free, over-the-air television in the city of the visiting team and in the city where the game is played, if the game is sold out 72 hours in advance of kickoff. NFL Network games are again available in Spanish via SAP this season. Roberto Abromowitz is NFL Network's SAP announcer.

NFL Network 2013 Thursday Night Football Schedule

All games at 8:00 pm ET

· Week 2: 9/12 - New England Patriots 13 - New York Jets 10

· Week 3: 9/19 - Kansas City Chiefs 26 - Philadelphia Eagles 16

· Week 4: 9/26 - San Francisco 49ers 35 - St. Louis Rams 11

· Week 5: 10/3 - Cleveland Browns 37 - Buffalo Bills 24

· Week 6: 10/10 - Chicago Bears 27 - New York Giants 21

· Week 7: 10/17 - Seattle Seahawks at Arizona Cardinals

· Week 8: 10/24 - Carolina Panthers at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

· Week 9: 10/31 - Cincinnati Bengals at Miami Dolphins

· Week 10: 11/7 - Washington Redskins at Minnesota Vikings

· Week 11: 11/14 - Indianapolis Colts at Tennessee Titans

· Week 12: 11/21 - New Orleans Saints at Atlanta Falcons

· Week 14: 12/5 - Houston Texans at Jacksonville Jaguars

· Week 15: 12/12 - San Diego Chargers at Denver Broncos

For the entire 2013 NFL schedule, visit www.NFL.com.

ABOUT NFL NETWORK

Launched on November 4, 2003, NFL Network is celebrating its 10th Anniversary this season

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