Second-place Bills still attracting America's attention at decade-high rates

The Buffalo Bills are no longer the prohibitive Super Bowl favorites that they were during the summer, but America has not lost an ounce of interest in the five-time defending AFC East champions and their MVP quarterback Josh Allen.

Although the Bills (8-4) are currently second to the New England Patriots (11-2) in the AFC East standings, their games attracted massive television viewership numbers to both start and end the month of November.

This past Sunday, the Bills earned a road win over the Pittsburgh Steelers and Aaron Rodgers in the CBS Game of the Week, and the game drew a noteworthy number of eyeballs in the 4:25 p.m. ET window.

According to CBS, the Bills' 26-7 win registered 26.265 million viewers on November 30.

Nov 30, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) celebrates after scoring a touchdown during the fourth quarter against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium. | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

In addition to representing a four-percent bump from the same time slot on last year's regular season calendar, it was the network's "most-watched Sunday Week 13 game since 2014." That 2014 game featured the Tom Brady-led New England Patriots against Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers.

On November 2, the Bills hosted the Kansas City Chiefs in what turned out to be the most-watched program of the week on any network.

Bills' third smash hit this season

That aforementioned Bills' win over the Chiefs delivers nearly 31 million viewers for CBS. It was the network's most-watched Week 9 game since 2007 when the Patriots (Brady) played the Indianapolis Colts (Peyton Manning) in a battle of unbeatens.

Coming off a three-point loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game, Buffalo earned the Week 1 Sunday Night Football slot in 2025, and it paid off for NBC.

“NFL ON CBS” continues its record-setting season with its best Week 9 audience since the NFL returned to CBS in 1998.

🏈Chiefs-Bills delivers nearly 31 million viewers, the most-watched Week 9 game on CBS since 2007 (8-0 Patriots vs 7-0 Colts)

🏈Most-watched program of the week… pic.twitter.com/k11vkw2TSz
— CBS Sports PR (@CBSSportsGang) November 4, 2025

The Bills' thrilling 41-40 victory over the Baltimore Ravens accounted for a 24.7 million-viewer Total Audience Delivery (TAD) average. It was the most watched SNF season opener in three years, and the online stream reached more viewers (3 million) than any previous Sunday night NFL game in NBC Sports history.

Allen pushes Bills into must-see category

While Buffalo has established itself as a winning brand by making the playoffs in seven of the last eight years, their quarterback makes them extra attractive to television executives. Allen, a four-time MVP finalist, has become one of the sport's most-recognizable names.

"Josh has definitely ascended into that 'what did he do today?' sort of, you can't really get through a weekend of highlights and news and stats without checking on the Bills' quarterback. And that's what being an MVP does. That's what winning football games does. Obviously, marrying the actress doesn't hurt," said NFL VP for broadcast planning Mike North this past spring with Sal Capaccio.

The 29-year-old Allen treated viewers to NFL history in Week 13. His eight-yard touchdown run set the record for most career TD rushes by a quarterback (76), moving past Cam Newton (75).

Nov 2, 2025; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) is interviewed after the game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Highmark Stadium. | Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

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