Each NFL Wild Card telecast saw a overnight ratings decline this year compared to their respective windows in ’14. Fox led all telecasts with a 25.0 overnight for the Cowboys come-from-behind win over the Lions in the 4:30pm ET window yesterday, marking the net’s second-best NFC Wild Card on record. Cowboys-Lions is behind only a 27.7 overnight for 49ers-Packers last year (-10%). Yesterday’s game projects to be the highest-rated telecast of any kind since the Academy Awards on ABC last March. Dallas-Ft. Worth drew a 43.6 local rating for the game, while Detroit drew a 43.9 local rating. Meanwhile, CBS drew an 18.5 overnight for the Colts-Bengals AFC Wild Card in the 1:00pm window yesterday, down 9% from Chargers-Bengals last year.
WILD CARD SATURDAY: NBC finished with 28.0 million viewers for the Ravens’ 30-17 win over the Steelers in the AFC Wild Card on Saturday night, down 19% from 34.4 million viewers for Saints-Eagles last year. The game drew a 46.5 local rating in Pittsburgh and a 46.0 rating in Baltimore. The 20.8 million viewers marks the second-best Saturday AFC Wild Card matchup over the last 20 years. Meanwhile, ESPN for its first-ever NFL Playoff telecast finished with 21.68 million viewers for the Panthers-Cardinals NFC Wild Card, down 21% from 27.58 million viewers for NBC’s Chiefs-Colts Wild Card in the same Saturday window last year. Despite the drop, Panthers-Cardinals ranks as ESPN’s second-best NFL game viewership on record, behind only 21.84 million viewers for a Packers-Vikings “MNF” game in October ’09. ESPN’s Wild Card game also ranks as the eighth-best audience in the history of cable TV. Panthers-Cardinals drew a 36.6 local rating in Charlotte (20.4 on ESPN, 16.3 on WJZY-Fox) and a 28.9 rating in Phoenix (21.6 on ESPN and 7.3 on KASW-CW). Panthers-Cardinals peaked at 24.3 million viewers from 7:00-7:15pm (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).
WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTS: In Baltimore, David Zurawik wrote NBC's broadcast crew is the "class of the field in NFL coverage," and the net's various personnel were in "near-perfect sync" during Saturday's telecast of Ravens-Steelers. Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth have the "best rapport of any announcing team," as Collinsworth adjusts "better than anyone in the business to changing story lines and on-field developments" (Baltimore SUN, 1/4). SI.com's Richard Deitsch wrote Falcons QB Matt Ryan "was impressive as a guest analyst" on ESPN’s "Sunday NFL Countdown." He was "poised, smart and didn’t duck any questions asked of him." Deitsch: "He has a future in broadcasting after his playing career if he wants it" (SI.com, 1/4). Meanwhile, in Dallas, Barry Horn notes Fox, like NBC and CBS before it, "captured New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie celebrating" the Cowboys’ 24-20 win over the Lions yesterday "in owner Jerry Jones’ box" (DALLASNEWS.com, 1/4).
PREP WORK: In Charlotte, Erik Spanberg went behind the scenes as ESPN prepared for its playoff debut on Saturday and wrote about 30 members of ESPN's NFL production team on Friday night "went over highlights and interview packages, opening segments, graphics and other possible talking points" in preparation for the net's "playoff debut" with Panthers-Cardinals. ESPN Exec VP/Programming John Wildhack closed the meeting with "simple advice: focus on your job and enjoy the reward of working the first playoff game in the network's history" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 1/3).
SOUND OF MUSIC: The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Tom McGinty profiled "SNF" Chief Audio Engineer Wendel Stevens, the "unassuming mastermind" behind the show's soundtrack. Stevens aims to "cater to a hipper demographic with subtle pop- and indie-music references that spice up the transitions to commercial breaks." When deciding if and when a songs fit into the broadcast, he "usually has about 40 seconds after a scoring play to decide" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 1/4).
