Somebody asked me the other day, “What are you watching?” It’s a common question nowadays, but I had to stop and think about my answer. Not because I couldn’t think of anything to watch on television, but because everything I watch now lives on a streaming service.
If I’m watching a series, I’m watching Netflix, Prime Video, HBO Max, Apple TV+, Hulu or Paramount+. When I ask somebody else what they’re watching, I get the same answer. “Have you seen Reacher?” “Are you watching Ted Lasso?” It is rare now that somebody tells me I absolutely must watch a new show on ABC, CBS or NBC.
That got me thinking about television. More specifically, what the shift says about sports media. While traditional television continues to lose ground to streaming, there is one part of the television business that still knows how to gather an enormous audience and make people watch at the same time.
Sports. More specifically, football. Look at Nielsen’s numbers for the week of September 14–20.
Dive Into The Data
FOX NFL Sunday led all linear television programming with 27.2 million viewers. NBC’s Sunday Night Football averaged 24.3 million. CBS’ NFL single-header drew 19.3 million. Thursday Night Football on Prime Video drew 18.6 million. Monday Night Football on ABC averaged 14.4 million, and Saturday Night College Football on ABC added another 10.9 million.
Nine of Nielsen’s top 10 programs for that week were football-related. At this point, Nielsen might as well put a football on the ratings chart and leave the other nine spots blank.
2026 NFL Season Viewership
Week 2 avg. 20.4 million viewers — ranks as most-watched Week 2 on record
— NFL Media (@NFLMedia) September 24, 2026
Now look at the other side of the television business.
Nielsen’s streaming Top 10 is a completely different world. The current list includes Reacher on Prime Video, The Big Bang Theory on HBO Max, Beauty in Black on Netflix, and Ted Lasso on Apple TV+. Also, The Whisper Man on Netflix, Lioness on Paramount+, Outer Banks on Netflix, Bluey on Disney+ and Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu on Disney+.
Notice what is not on that list? ABC. CBS. NBC. FOX.
That’s not because people stopped watching television. They stopped watching it the way we used to.
Sports Are Different
Nielsen reported that streaming accounted for 49% of all television usage in August 2026, with YouTube alone representing 14.2%. Eighty-three percent of American adults use streaming services, while only 36% subscribe to cable or satellite television. Fifty-five percent said they stream without having a cable or satellite subscription.
Here is where sports is different.
If I’m watching Reacher, I can watch it tonight. Or tomorrow night or next weekend. If you’re watching the same show and you’re two episodes behind, I’m certainly not going to tell you what happens. That would be a great way to lose a friend.
Sports does not give us that luxury.
If the Cowboys are playing Sunday at 1 p.m., I want to know what happens Sunday at 1 p.m. I don’t want somebody texting me the final score, or watch the highlights first. I don’t want to hear about it Monday morning while somebody says, “You should have seen what happened.”
That is the difference between watching something and having to watch something.
Sports still creates appointment television. Appointment television is becoming more valuable because so much of the rest of television has become completely on-demand. We don’t have to agree on what we are watching anymore. You can watch Reacher. I can watch Ted Lasso. Somebody else can watch an old episode of The Big Bang Theory. Another person can spend six hours watching a documentary about something none of us has ever heard of.
Everybody is watching television. Nobody is watching the same television. Sports still brings us together.
When your football team plays, millions of people see the same touchdown, interception, and the same fourth-down decision. On the flip side, the same referee who just ruined somebody’s afternoon as well.
That is a powerful thing in a fragmented media world.
Not What But Where
I have been doing this for 30 years. I remember when asking somebody, “What are you watching?” meant something different. You knew what was on Monday night, and Thursday night. You knew when your favorite show came on, and if you missed it, you hoped you remembered to set the VCR.
Now the question is usually, “Where is it?” Netflix? Prime? Max? Apple? Hulu? Peacock?
Traditional television has not disappeared. The audience has not disappeared. What has disappeared is the idea that everybody is going to watch the same entertainment simply because a network tells us when it’s on.
Sports is different. Sports does not need to tell us what time to watch. We already know.
Judging by 27.2 million viewers for FOX NFL Sunday, 24.3 million for Sunday Night Football and 19.3 million for the CBS NFL game, a whole lot of America still wants to be in front of the television when it happens.
The rest of television may have become “watch it whenever you want.” Sports is still “watch it now, or have the outcome spoiled.”
For television, that may be the most valuable difference of all.
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The post Why Football Remains Television’s Most Powerful Appointment Viewing appeared first on Barrett Media.
