The four NFL Wild Card games this past weekend averaged 34.7 million viewers, marking the league's most-viewed Wild Card weekend on record. Fox' 49ers-Packers game on Sunday finished with a 25.8 rating and 47.1 million viewers, marking the highest-rated Wild Card game on any net since at least '88. The game was up 20% and 24%, respectively, from a 21.5 rating and 38.1 million viewers for Seahawks-Redskins in the late Sunday window last season. 49ers-Packers also marks the most-viewed TV program of any kind since last year's Super Bowl. CBS finished with an 18.9 rating and 30.9 million viewers for the Chargers-Bengals Wild Card in the early window on Sunday, up 4% in both metrics compared to Ravens-Colts in '13. The audience marked the best viewership for an early Sunday AFC Wild Card matchup in 19 years. NBC's doubleheader marked the most-viewed Wild Card Saturday ever, with an average of 30.8 million viewers (THE DAILY).
FIT FOR A QUEEN CITY: In Charlotte, Erik Spanberg noted WJZY-Fox drew 639,950 local viewers for 49ers-Packers, "an audience that trails only" the 656,320 viewers for the Nov. 18 Patriots-Panthers "MNF" telecast. Meanwhile, Saints-Eagles drew 473,540 viewers on WCNC-NBC in Charlotte, with the local affiliate drawing 350,230 viewers for Colts-Chiefs. Charlotte-based WBTV-CBS drew 407,370 for Chargers-Bengals (BIZJOURNALS.com, 1/6).
EXPORT ASSISTANCE: CTV averaged 1.6 million Canadian viewers for 49ers-Packers, marking the fourth-largest Wild Card audience since CTV began airing NFL games in '07. The net averaged 1.1 million viewers for Saints-Eagles, 997,000 viewers for Colts-Chiefs, and 869,000 viewers for Chargers-Bengals (CTV).
