• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, September 9, 2011

The National Football League continues to prove itself as perhaps TV's most reliably strong programming. The Thursday season opener on NBC delivered the highest rating in the 18-49 demo for a regular-season, prime-time game in 14 years.

The high-scoring Green Bay Packers' win over New Orleans drew a 10.9 rating in the demo, the highest number in prime time for any program since February's Oscars.

The game also drew 27.2 million viewers, making it the second-most-watched prime-time game in the regular season since 1996. That was just behind last year's season opener on NBC, with 27.5 million.

The soaring rating came after the NFL suffered a lockout during the off-season, but the ability of the owners and players to reach a deal with no missed games may have encouraged fans.

The Thursday game, which ended at 11:49 p.m., topped all Sunday- and Monday-night telecasts going back to 1998. The only one to top it was last year's Minnesota-New Orleans season opener on NBC with a 17.7.

The Thursday game drew some huge numbers in home-team markets, New Orleans (57.7) and Milwaukee (53.1), while Minneapolis topped the others among the 55 metered ones with a 23.8, followed by Kansas City at a 23.

As NBC looks to rebuild its prime-time schedule this fall, Sunday night should continue to be a winner and solid promotional platform with weekly NFL games.

Green Bay-New Orleans gave NBC its highest rating for a Thursday night in the 18-49 demo since the night of the "Friends" finale in 2004, excluding the Olympics.