With ESPN televising its first-ever NFL playoff game and NBC relegated to just a single primetime contest on Wild Card Saturday, ratings for the playoff doubleheader were down from last year.
And compared to 2014 when both games were thrillers including a massive comeback for the Indianapolis Cots, this year’s games were far from that so it’s certainly not a question why the games were down.
ESPN saw good ratings and viewership for the Carolina-Arizona game with a 12.5 rating and 21.678 million viewers. That’s down from last year’s first Wild Card Game between Kansas City and Indianapolis where the Colts came back from a 28 point deficit. NBC registered a 16.0 rating and 27.6 million viewers.
In fact, ESPN’s viewership for the Wild Card game was down from the College Football Playoff Semifinals which each averaged over 28 million viewers.
Here’s ESPN’s announcement:
Cardinals-Panthers Wild Card Game is ESPN’s Third Highest-Rated NFL Game Ever
Eighth Most-Watched Telecast among Viewers, and Ninth Highest-Rated, in Cable TV History
The Saturday afternoon NFL Wild Card game on ESPN – a Carolina Panthers’ 27-16 victory over the Arizona Cardinals – ranks as the network’s third highest-rated NFL game ever. It is also the eighth most-viewed telecast among viewers (see chart below), and ninth highest-rated, in cable television history.
The Cardinals-Panthers game – the first NFL Playoff game in ESPN’s 35-year history – averaged a 12.5 household US rating; 14,551,000 households; and 21,678,000 viewers (P2+), according to Nielsen fast nationals. The rating peaked from 5:45-6 p.m. ET with a 13.9 rating and at 24,300,000 viewers from 7-7:15 p.m.
The only NFL games on ESPN to rate higher were Monday Night Football contests – Minnesota-Green Bay (13.2 household rating, 10/5/09) and New Orleans-New England (12.9 rating, 11/30/09).
The Wild Card continued one of ESPN’s most successful weeks in history following record-setting audiences on New Year’s Day for the two inaugural College Football Playoff Semifinal games. In the week ahead, ESPN will continue its presentation of marquee football telecasts with the much-anticipated Oregon-Ohio State College Football Playoff National Championship on Monday, January 12.
In Phoenix, the game delivered a 21.6 rating on ESPN and a 7.3 on KASW-CW, for a combined 28.9 rating in the market. In Charlotte, the game delivered a 20.4 rating on ESPN and a 16.3 on WJZY-FOX, for a combined 36.6 rating in the market.
The top 10 metered markets (in addition to those of the competing teams) included: Greensboro (25.8), Las Vegas (19.6), Raleigh-Durham (19.5), Greenville (19.5), Denver (18.5), Seattle (18.3), Richmond (16.9), Baltimore (16.8), Norfolk (16.5) and New Orleans (16.5). Five markets recorded the highest-rated NFL game rating ever on ESPN: Charlotte, Detroit (13.8), Greensboro, Raleigh, and Salt Lake City (11.3).
ESPN’s 17 Monday Night Football telecasts in 2014 averaged an 8.3 US household rating; 9,636,000 households; and 13,349,000 viewers. Release.
Top 10 Most-Viewed Programs in Cable Television History (Viewers):
Rank Date Program Network Viewers (000s) 1. 01/01/2015 CFB/Sugar Bowl: Alabama-Ohio St. ^ ESPN 28,271 2. 01/01/2015 CFB/Rose Bowl: Oregon-Florida St. ^ ESPN 28,164 3. 01/10/2011 CFB/BCS Champ: Oregon-Auburn ESPN 27,316 4. 01/07/2013 CFB/BCS Champ: Alabama-Notre Dame ESPN 26,380 5. 01/06/2014 CFB/BCS Champ: Florida St.-Auburn ESPN 25,572 6. 01/09/2012 CFB/BCS Champ: Alabama-LSU ESPN 24,214 7. 10/05/2009 NFL MNF: Green Bay-Minnesota ESPN 21,839 8. 01/03/2015 NFL Wild Card: Arizona-Carolina ESPN 21,678 9. 11/30/2009 NFL MNF: New England-New Orleans ESPN 21,402 10. 01/01/2011 CFB/Rose Bowl: TCU-Wisconsin ESPN 20,558 Note: excluding breaking news; live + same day
^ Inaugural College Football Playoff semifinal games
2015 games in bold
ESPN Digital: WatchESPN Posts Second-Highest Audience Ever for an NFL Game
The Arizona-Carolina Wild Card game had a WatchESPN average minute audience of 144,000, the second highest audience ever for an NFL game, behind only the Washington-Dallas game on Oct. 27 (145,000), The game also logged 378,000 unique viewers and 30.8 million total minutes viewed.
The average MNF game this season had a WatchESPN average minute audience of 106,000, 331,000 unique viewers and 21.6 million total minutes viewed – up 64 percent, 81 percent and 68 percent, respectively, compared to the previous season.
As for NBC in primetime, the Peacock saw good numbers for the Baltimore-Pittsburgh Wild Card game. NBC averaged a 15.8 rating with a 27 share, down from last year’s 19.1/31 for the New Orleans-Philadelphia NFC Wild Card game. Pittsburgh-Baltimore averaged 28 million viewers, off from last year’s primetime game which had garnered a viewership of 34.4 million.
Let’s take a look at what NBC is saying:
RAVENS-STEELERS ON NBC IS 2ND MOST-WATCHED SATURDAY AFC WILD CARD GAME IN PAST 20 SEASONS
Baltimore’s 30-17 Victory over Rival Pittsburgh Averages 28.0 Million Viewers
NBC to Televise Baltimore at New England AFC Divisional Playoff Game This Saturday, Jan. 10; Coverage Kicks Off at 3:30 PM ET
NBC Is Home of Super Bowl XLIX Four Weeks from Today – Live Game Day Coverage from Arizona Kicks Off Sunday, Feb. 1 at Noon ETSTAMFORD, Conn. – January 4, 2015 – The Baltimore Ravens’ 30-17 road victory over their AFC North rival Pittsburgh Steelers in last night’s NFL Wild Card game on NBC averaged 28.0 million viewers to rank as the second most-watched Saturday AFC Wild Card game in the past 20 seasons, according to Fast National data from The Nielsen Company.
Viewership for the Ravens victory, paced by Joe Flacco’s 259 passing yards and two touchdowns for a 114.0 passer rating, trails only the New York Jets’ 17-16 win over Indianapolis in Peyton Manning’s final game with the Colts in primetime on NBC on Jan. 8, 2011 (33.3 million viewers) among Saturday AFC Wild Card games in the past 20 seasons (1995-2014).
NBC’s playoff coverage continues this Saturday, Jan. 10 with the AFC Divisional Playoff as the Ravens, on a three-game road win streak in the postseason, visit the top-seeded New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass. The Ravens have won two of three playoff games between the clubs in Foxboro. NBC’s Divisional Playoff coverage begins with a special edition of Football Night in America at 3:30 p.m. ET.
NBC is the home of Super Bowl XLIX. Live game day coverage kicks off at Noon ET from Arizona on Sunday, Feb. 1.
The Ravens-Steelers AFC Wild Card telecast (8:15-11:15 p.m. ET) earned a 15.8 rating/27 share. Viewership peaked at 29.5 million from 9-9:30 p.m. ET.
Top 10 Metered Markets for Ravens-Steelers
1. Pittsburgh, 46.5/67 2. Baltimore, 46.0/67 3. Cincinnati, 25.4/41 4. Denver, 24.9/41 5. Las Vegas, 24.1/38 6. Seattle, 22.5/40 T7. Richmond, 22.3/33 T7. Washington D.C., 22.2/36 9. Cleveland, 22.0/32 10. Charlotte, 21.7/34
That will do it.
