Patrick Mahomes & Josh Allen Help $7.1 Billion Broadcaster Crush FOX as Terry Bradshaw & Michael Strahan Fail to Halt Decline

On the field and beyond, Patrick Mahomes is synonymous with success nowadays. The KC Chiefs quarterback is the safest bet for anything. Now that the regular season is over, the viewership data is also out. if we look at the tables from 2023-24, there is not much change in the current season, just a minor dip. Thanks to Mahomes and the Bills’ Josh Allen, the AFC continues to dominate against Michael Strahan and Terry Bradshaw’s epic run with Fox.

The NFL saw a 2.2% dip in viewership from the last season. But with 17.5 million average viewers, the NFL still remains a hot property with fans waiting to see their favorite stars in action. Although the pre-game show with Michael Strahan and Terry Bradshaw on Fox was a big hit, the Fox network fell behind the CBS Network, worth $7.1 Billion, in overall viewership this year. While the CBS NFL recorded 19.2 million viewers in 2024, FOX only had 18.4 million. Even in the late afternoon national window, CBS, with 24.3 million average viewers, was ahead of FOX with 23.9 million.

Despite landing Tom Brady for a whopping $375 million, Fox fell behind the CBS Network. The NFL also allowed FOX to host its Week 1 national window game unopposed. But seems like nothing worked for Fox.

One of the reasons behind the drop is the poor shows on the gridiron. While the Cowboys and 49ers failed to enter playoffs, the AFC had an impressive run with the Chiefs, Ravens, and Bills led by their superstar quarterbacks, Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, and Josh Allen.

While NBC raced ahead of all other networks with 19.4 viewers per game, ESPN/ABC was last, with 17.3 million average viewers. Though FOX remained behind in average viewing, its pregame show remained a smash hit.

Terry Bradshaw and Michael Strahan’s FOX show continues to be on top

The year began with a historic achievement for the broadcaster. On January 7, 2025, FOX Sports PR tweeted that their pregame show, FOX NFL SUNDAY, continued to be the most-watched pregame show for 31 consecutive NFL seasons, with 4.4 million viewers. Terry Bradshaw, Michael Strahan, and other analysts are favorites among the fans. However, their presence wasn’t enough for the FOX to top the charts.

Bradshaw has concerned fans by going off the topic in some episodes. They were worried about his health as he started comparing Bengals and Browns while Bills-Titans game highlights were playing on the screen. Strahan, on the other hand, corrected him on many times, including in the pregame show before the anticipated Bills-Chiefs game.

As per FOX Sports PR, “With an average of 4,415,000 viewers this year, FOX NFL SUNDAY celebrates 31 consecutive seasons as the most-watched NFL pregame show!” However, both of them failed to halt the decline in the viewers for FOX to 18.4 million from 19 million average viewers. While Terry Bradshaw made too many mistakes for fans to ignore, Michael Strahan was dealing with his daughter’s recovery from cancer.

Overall, it was a good game for the broadcasters and the game. The NFL games occupied 13 of the 15 most-watched broadcasts in the country.