The season’s first Thursday Night Football simulcast hit a four-year high in the overnight ratings. Also: the IndyCar series and finale finished up from last season; F1 viewership continues to rise; the Mystics’ clincher was no match for last year.

Overnights hit four-year high for first TNF simulcast

Last night’s Eagles-Packers Thursday Night Football game averaged a combined 12.6 overnight rating on FOX and NFL Network, the highest for the first TNF simulcast of the season since 2015 (Broncos-Chiefs: 14.3). The 12.6 increased 18% from last year (Vikings-Rams: 10.7) and 29% from 2017, when coverage aired on CBS and NFL Network (Bears-Packers: 9.8). Regardless of week, the 12.6 is the second-highest TNF overnight since 2016. Last year’s Week 13 Saints-Cowboys game holds the top spot at a 14.6.

IndyCar season, finale, up on NBC

The IndyCar season averaged 1.11 million viewers across NBC and NBCSN (including streaming), up 9% from last year on ABC and NBCSN (1.01M). Last year’s average does not include streaming viewership for ABC races. Last Sunday’s season finale from Laguna Seca (Monterey, Ca.) averaged a 0.5 rating and 732,000 viewers on NBC, marking the series’ most-watched finale since 2015 (841K). Ratings increased 32% and viewership 16% from last year’s finale at Sonoma (0.38, 629K). As one would expect, Indianapolis led all markets for IndyCar races this season, averaging a 3.8.

F1 viewership continues to rise

Formula 1 races are averaging 659,000 viewers across ESPN and ESPN2, up 19% from last year (552K) and up 22% from 2017 on the NBC family of networks (540K). Twelve of 15 races have increased thus far, including last weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix on ESPN2 (574K, +22%), which earned its largest U.S. audience on record.

Fewer viewers for Mystics’ clincher

Tuesday’s clinching Game 4 of the Mystics-Aces WNBA semifinal averaged 262,000 viewers on ESPN2, trailing both of last year’s Game 4s, which aired on a Sunday afternoon sans-NFL competition (Storm-Mercury: 460K; Dream-Mystics: 339K). There were no Game 4s in the 2017 semifinals. Figures for Sunday’s Game 3s — Mystics-Aces and Sun-Sparks — were not available.

[Nielsen estimates from Fox Sports, NBC Sports PR 9.24, ESPN, ShowBuzz Daily 9.25]