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Wild Card Weekend Has Lowest Viewership Since '10, Despite Strong Fox Audience

NFL Wild Card weekend averaged 29.9 million viewers across ESPN, NBC, CBS and Fox this year, marking the first time since ’10 that the four-game average did not cross the 30-million viewer threshold. Wild Card weekend viewership is down 14% from 34.7 million viewers last year, which remains the most-viewed Wild Card weekend on record. This year’s average is flat compared to ’10. ESPN this year replaced NBC as broadcaster for the early Saturday game, but the first-ever postseason game on cable did not translate to the lowest audience on record for a Wild Card telecast. The 21.7 million viewers for Panthers-Cardinals on Saturday was higher than NBC’s Cardinals-Falcons game in ’09 (21.0 million viewers).

NFL WILD CARD WEEKEND AUDIENCE (FOUR GAMES)
YEAR
NETWORKS
AVERAGE VIEWERS (000)
'15
ESPN, NBC, CBS, Fox
29,900
'14
NBC (x2), CBS, Fox
34,700
'13
NBC (x2), CBS, Fox
30,300
'12
NBC (x2), CBS, Fox
31,000
'11
NBC (x2), CBS, Fox
32,300
'10
NBC (x2), CBS, Fox
29,900
'09
NBC (x2), CBS, Fox
25,800
'08
NBC (x2), CBS, Fox
24,600

STAR IS BRIGHT: Fox finished with 42.3 million viewers for Cowboys-Lions on Sunday afternoon, marking the third-best Wild Card game audience on record, behind only last year’s 49ers-Packers matchup on Fox (47.1 million viewers) and CBS’ broadcast of the Tim Tebow-led Broncos' OT win over the Steelers in ’12 (42.4 million viewers). The last time the Cowboys played in a Wild Card game was in ’10, when NBC drew 32.1 million viewers for a Saturday primetime matchup against the Eagles. Meanwhile, CBS finished with 28.3 million viewers for the Colts-Bengals on Sunday, down 8% from 30.9 million viewers for Chargers-Bengals last year. It marked the lowest audience for a Wild Card telecast on the net since Ravens-Patriots drew 27.4 million viewers in ’10.

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