Nielsen ratings for the NFL Conference Championships
were "about even" with last year, according to USA TODAY's
Rudy Martzke. Fox's earned a 26.2 Nielsen overnight for the
Falcons-Vikings, similar to last year's 26.1 rating for the
Broncos-Steelers on NBC in the same time slot. CBS's 27.3
Nielsen overnight for the Jets-Broncos was down 1% from
Fox's 27.7 for the Packers-49ers in the late time slot last
year (USA TODAY, 1/19). The Jets-Broncos earned a 30.0/52
in the N.Y market, while the game earned a 54.4 rating in
Denver. The Falcons-Vikings earned a 50.6 rating in Atlanta
and a 47.7 in Minneapolis/St. Paul. Denver and Minneapolis
both had viewer shares topping 80% (Richard Sandomir, N.Y.
TIMES, 1/19). NEWSDAY's Steve Zipay notes that "The NFL
Today" on CBS took a "major hit" from the overtime Falcons-
Vikings game, as the show earned a "paltry" 2.6/5, compared
to a 9.4/24 last year (NEWSDAY, 1/19). In Detroit, Steve
Crowe wrote that the NFL gave CBS permission for a 12-minute
start delay with the NFC game in OT (FREE PRESS, 1/18).
SUPER LINEUP OF TEAMS? DAILY VARIETY's Richard Morgan
writes that this year's Super Bowl advertisers "have reason
to be content" with the contestants, as the game features
the U.S.'s 10th-largest market against its 18th-largest
market. Fox Sports Senior VP/Media Relations Vince Wladika:
"We got returning champions in Denver. And Atlanta's going
to deliver the entire Southeast" (VARIETY, 1/19).
