It was another heavily-watched weekend of NFL football, as
the Divisional Round of the playoffs averaged 34 million total viewers across
Saturday and Sunday, though that was down 7% from last year's record-setting
weekend (36.6 million), according to Nielsen numbers.
The two Saturday games averaged 33.1 million viewers, down
5%. CBS' 4:30 p.m. ET contest between the Baltimore Ravens and Denver Broncos,
which went into double-overtime, drew 35.3 million viewers, about the same as
last year's early game (35.6 million). Fox's late game between the Green Bay
Packers and San Francisco 49ers was down 10% from the same window last year
with 30.9 million viewers. It should be noted that the first part of the
Packers-49ers game aired while Ravens-Broncos was still in progress.
On Sunday, the two games averaged 34.6 million viewers, down
9%. Fox's early game between the Seattle Seahawks and Atlanta Falcons drew 32.1
million viewers, up 4% from the same window last year. CBS' late game between
the Houston Texans and New England Patriots (37.7 million) was well below last
year's late Sunday game, which was the most-watched Divisional Round playoff
game ever (45.1 million).
Overall, Fox averaged 31.5 million viewers for its two games
and CBS drew 36.5 million.
