STRONG TV RATINGS FOR DIVISIONAL PLAYOFF GAMES

The Green Bay Packers’ last-second victory against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday resulted in the highest overnight rating and share for a divisional playoff game on any network in 20 years and is projected to be the mostwatched NFL game since last February’s Super Bowl 50, Fox announced Monday. NBC’s broadcast of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 18-16 victory against the Kansas City Chiefs resulted in the best ratings for any prime-time game in the first two rounds broadcast in the network’s history. The game originally had been scheduled for 1:05 p.m. ET before the league moved it to 8:20 p.m. ET because of an ice storm that hit the Kansas City area. The 28.2 rating and 48 share for the Packers’ 34-31 victory was 8% higher than last year’s game in the same late-afternoon window (CBS’ broadcast of the Steelers-Denver Broncos game) and 22% higher than last year’s NFC divisional game on the same day (Seattle Seahawks-Carolina Panthers on Fox). NBC’s 21.9/34 for the Steelers-Chiefs game was an 8% improvement over the prime-time game it broadcast during the same weekend last year: Green Bay’s overtime win against the Arizona Cardinals that aired on a Saturday night. The move to prime time had advantages and disadvantages for NBC. While there are more people watching TV on Sunday nights, there’s also more competition. The share is the number of televisions in use tuned to a certain broadcast, meaning an estimated 48% watched the Packers-Cowboys and 34% watched the SteelersChiefs in markets measured by Nielsen. Viewership peaked for the Packers-Cowboys game between 7:45 and 8 p.m. ET (34.2 rating and 53 share). A 51-yard field goal by Mason Crosby as the game clock expired sealed a Green Bay victory. SteelersChiefs viewership peaked between 11 and 11:15 p.m. ET (23.8/ 40) as Pittsburgh held off Kansas City to win.