Cowboys/Eagles was not the only success story on Wild Card Saturday.
The Jets’ win over the Bengals drew a hefty 16.9/31 overnight rating on NBC Saturday afternoon, up 18% from Falcons/Cardinals last year (14.3/28), up 10% from Washington/Seahawks in ’08 (15.4/29), and up 19% from Chiefs/Colts in ’07 (14.2/27).
Ratings peaked at a 19.1/34 from 7:30-7:45 PM.
The 16.9 overnight is the highest for the Saturday afternoon Wild Card game since Bills/Dolphins in ’99 (17.9/37). During the 2000s, the highest overnight for the early game was a 16.0.
Jets/Bengals drew a 45.0/66 in Cincinnati and a 20.8/38 in New York. Excluding Dayton, which is a secondary market for the Bengals, New Orleans was the top neutral market (25.7/38).
Overall, NBC averaged an 18.3/32 overnight rating for its Wild Card Saturday doubleheader, up 12% from a 16.4/29 last year, and up 14% from a 16.0/28 in ’08.
