NFL Network's THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL Scores 7.78 Million Viewers

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)

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