Last weekend’s NFL divisional round playoff games averaged 39.2 million viewers, according to Nielsen, the second-most watched since audience average numbers started being tracked in 1988.
It was just off the record of 40 million, which happened two years ago. The four games were up 5% from last year.
Some of the increase can be attributed to a change in the way viewers are counted. Nielsen began using its Big Data + Panel methodology for all events last September with the start of the current television season.
Earlier this year, Nielsen began measuring out-of-home viewers for all states but Hawaii and Alaska, along with including data from smart TVs along with cable and satellite set-top boxes.
Nielsen previously measured only the top 44 media markets, which covered 65% of the country.
Sunday night’s overtime thriller between the Los Angeles Rams and Chicago Bears led the way, averaging 45.4 million viewers on NBC. The audience peaked at 52.6 million in the game’s closing minutes.
The Rams’ 20-17 victory was the most-watched divisional playoff game for NBC, surpassing the previous mark of 41.1 million in January 1994, when Joe Montana and the Kansas City Chiefs defeated Warren Moon and the Houston Oilers. It also was the most-watched prime-time event since last February’s Super Bowl on Fox.
Denver‘s 33-30 overtime victory over Buffalo on CBS set the mark for the most-watched Saturday NFL playoff game, averaging 39.6 million. It peaked at 51.28 million during overtime.
The previous Saturday record was 37.54 million for a Green Bay–San Francisco divisional round game in prime time on Fox two years ago.
The previous high for the Saturday early window was 35.60 million for New Orleans–San Francisco on Jan. 14, 2012.
The Broncos’ win over the Bills was also the most-watched Saturday telecast on any network since the 1994 Winter Olympics on CBS averaged 40.82 million in prime time on Feb. 19.
Sunday afternoon’s AFC game between Houston and New England averaged 37.97 million on ESPN, ABC and ESPN Deportes, the most-watched event in ESPN’s nearly 37-year history. It also stands as the most-watched telecast on a Disney-owned network since 2014.
The Patriots’ 28-16 win peaked at 44.9 million viewers late in the second half.
Seattle‘s 41-6 rout of San Francisco averaged 32.1 million on Fox. It was a slight drop from the 33.6 million that tuned in for last year’s Washington–Detroit game in the same Saturday night time slot.
