The four games during NFL Wild Card weekend averaged 30.3 million viewers, down from 32.6 million viewers last year, but up from 29.9 million two years ago. Three of four Wild Card windows ended up with some sort of decline in viewership. Fox’ Packers-Giants was the only window to see a gain. The net drew 39.3 million viewers for Sunday’s late-afternoon telecast, up 1% from 38.9 million viewers for Packers-Redskins last year. Earlier on Sunday, CBS drew 29.9 million viewers for Steelers-Dolphins, down 16% from 35.4 million viewers for NBC’s Seahawks-Vikings in the same window last season. Saturday’s Seahawks-Lions game on NBC was the least-viewed Saturday primetime Wild Card game since ’08 with 26.9 million viewers. It also was down 14% from CBS’ Steelers-Bengals last year. Earlier on Saturday, ESPN/ABC’s 25.1 million viewers for the Texans-Raiders telecast was down slightly from Chiefs-Texans last year, which got 25.4 million viewers (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).
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NFL WILD CARD WEEKEND AUDIENCE (FOUR GAMES)
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YEAR
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NETWORKS
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AVERAGE VIEWERS (000)
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'17
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ESPN/ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox
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30,274
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'16
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ESPN/ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox
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32,600
|
|
'15
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ESPN, NBC, CBS, Fox
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29,900
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|
'14
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NBC (x2), CBS, Fox
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34,700
|
|
'13
|
NBC (x2), CBS, Fox
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30,300
|
|
'12
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NBC (x2), CBS, Fox
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31,000
|
|
'11
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NBC (x2), CBS, Fox
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32,300
|
|
'10
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NBC (x2), CBS, Fox
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29,900
|
|
'09
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NBC (x2), CBS, Fox
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25,800
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'08
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NBC (x2), CBS, Fox
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24,600
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CHART NOTE: * = ABC simulcast ESPN's telecast of Wild Card game.
READY FOR RATINGS GOLD: The N.Y. Daily News’ Bob Raissman said of Sunday's Packers-Cowboys NFC Divisional Playoff game will be a “ratings bonanza.” Raissman: “It’s a glamour matchup. ... There is a lot of mystique there." SNY’s Eamon McAnaney said, “Unfortunately for Fox and the NFL, it's coming (one) week too early. I guess if the Cowboys win you’re still going to get them in the NFC Championship game. But if you’re talking about dream matchups, you’d rather have this one in two weeks than this week." The N.Y. Daily News’ John Harper added, "There's a lot of nostalgia here and it would be better if it was in Green Bay. ... (But this matchup) carries a national audience even farther than the Giants-Cowboys would" ("Daily News Live," SNY, 1/9).
