To say Sunday was a big day for NFL viewing would be like saying lions like to eat meat. Ratings went through the roof for both CBS and Fox for the AFC and NFC Championship Games respectively. I’ll give you three press releases in one post, one from CBS, one from Fox and finally, one from the NFL all touting the ratings on Sunday.
Earlier today, we had the overnight ratings for the AFC Championship, but no viewership numbers. Now, we have final ratings and viewership numbers and they’re better than originally thought. An average of 46.9 million viewers for Sunday afternoon. Imagine the numbers if they were in primetime.
“THE NFL ON CBS’S COVERAGE OF AFC CHAMPIONSHIP IS MOST WATCHED IN 24 YEARSCBS SPORTS’ COVERAGE OF 2010 AFC CHAMPIONSHIPAVERAGES 46.9 MILLION VIEWERSCBS Sports’ coverage of the 2010 AFC CHAMPIONSHIP game featuring the Indianapolis Colts defeating the New York Jets on Sunday, Jan. 24 (3:06-6:13 PM, ET) was seen by an average of 46.9 million viewers (Persons 2+), which is the highest number of viewers in 24 years dating back to Jan. 12, 1986 for New England vs. Miami on NBC (47.5 million viewers).The AFC CHAMPIONSHIP game earned a fast-national average household rating/share of 26.3/47, up 2% from the comparable early window in 2008 and up 20% from last year’s late window.The AFC CHAMPIONSHIP game rating peaked at a 29.6/50 with an average of 54.0 million viewers from 5:30-6:00 PM, ET.
The NFC Championship Game on Fox drew amazing viewership numbers, over 50 million people. That’s better than American Idol and under Super Bowl numbers. And look at the local ratings in New Orleans and Minneapolis-St. Paul.
FOX SPORTS CAPS OFF RECORD-SETTING NFL SEASON WITH MOST-WATCHED CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME IN ALMOST 30 YEARS58 Million Viewers Tune In To See Unforgettable Vikings/Saints Epic Overtime Thriller; Second Only To Cowboys/49ers “The Catch” Classic in 1982Contest Posts +40% Gain Over Last Year’s Eagles/Cardinals NFC Title TiltNew Orleans Delivers Highest Local Rating for a Postseason NFL Game EverYesterday’s epic 2010 NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME on FOX between the New Orleans Saints and Minnesota Vikings delivered an extraordinary 30.6/45 household rating/share and averaged over 57.9 million viewers, according to fast national figures released by Nielsen Media Research. The overtime battle not only produced the biggest audience ever for an NFC Championship Game on FOX, it is also the second largest audience for any conference championship game, trailing only the 1982 Cowboys-49ers (Montana-to-Clark “The Catch”) NFC Championship Game (68.7 million viewers on CBS). Excluding Super Bowl broadcasts, last night’s average audience of 57.9 million ascends the 2010 NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME to television’s most-watched program since the 1998 “Seinfeld” series finale (76.3 million viewers). It also ranks as the eighth most-watched show in the history of FOX, trailing only the network’s five Super Bowls and two Super Bowl postgame shows.Last night’s fast national rating of 30.6/45 is a +40% gain over last year’s 21.9/41 for Eagles-Cardinals in the early window and the highest rating for a conference championship game in 14 years (33.3/58 – Packers/Cowboys in 1996.) Ratings climbed to Super Bowl-like levels as the game progressed toward overtime, peaking at an astounding 34.4/48 rating and 65.2 million viewers from 9:30 – 10:00 PM ET.New Orleans delivered a 63.2/82 last night, the highest local rating for a postseason NFL game ever, beating the home market rating of every team that has ever played in a Super Bowl. Viewing in New Orleans peaked at a 67.4/86 at 10:15 PM as Garrett Hartley drilled a 40-yard field goal to send the Saints to their first-ever Super Bowl.Minneapolis posted a 58.7/80 last night, which is in its own right the third highest local rating ever for an NFC playoff game on FOX, trailing only New Orleans for yesterday’s game and Milwaukee in the 1997 Championship Game. Milwaukee was yesterday’s No. 3 market at a 47.4/64 as Packer fans tuned-in in droves to watch Brett Favre’s championship bid.The 2010 NFC PLAYOFFS go down in the record books as FOX’s most-watched ever. FOX’s four NFC Playoff games averaged 40.2 million viewers, besting the previous mark of 37.3 million set in 1995. Not only is this FOX’s largest NFC Playoff viewership ever, it is the best for the NFC Playoffs on either FOX or CBS since Nielsen introduced the people meter during the 1987-88 season. This year’s four NFC Playoff games averaged a 22.4/38 household rating/share, a +24% gain over last year’s 18.1/33 and FOX’s best since 1997 (23.7/48).
Finally from the NFL itself which is rightfully crowing about Championship Sunday, which gained the highest viewership in almost three decades.
MOST-WATCHED CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP SUNDAY IN 28 YEARSVIKINGS-SAINTS MOST-WATCHED CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP SINCE “THE CATCH” &MOST-VIEWED NON-SUPER BOWL TELECAST SINCE “SEINFELD” FINALE IN 1998JETS-COLTS MOST-WATCHED AFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME IN 24 YEARSAVERAGE OF 52.9 MILLION FANS WATCHED – UP 34 PERCENT FROM 2008Football fans across America continue to tune in to NFL games, resulting in the most-watched Conference Championship Sunday in 28 years. An average of 52.9 million fans watched NFL games last weekend, the most for an NFL Conference Championship Sunday since January 1982 (game-by-game comparison below) and a 34 percent increase from last season (39.6 million viewers).The Minnesota Vikings-New Orleans Saints NFC Championship Game on FOX drew 57.9 million viewers to rank as the most-watched conference championship game since the 1981 NFC Championship Game featuring “The Catch” (Dallas-San Francisco on CBS on January 10, 1982, 68.7 million viewers) and the most watched non-Super Bowl program on television since the series finale of Seinfeld 12 years ago (76.3 million on May 14, 1998).The New York Jets-Indianapolis Colts matchup on CBS drew 46.9 million viewers to rank as the most-watched AFC Championship Game in 24 years (Patriots-Dolphins on NBC on January 12, 1986, 47.5 million).2009 NFL Conference Championship Games
Impressive? Yes. I’m calling record viewership numbers for the Super Bowl in two weeks.
