A stirring battle between the Saints and 49ers earned the best overnight rating for a Saturday Divisional Round game in over a decade.
The Saints/49ers NFC Divisional Round game drew a 21.7 overnight rating on FOX Saturday afternoon, up 4% from last year’s comparable game (BAL/PIT: 20.9), and up 21% from the comparable game in 2010 (ARI/NO: 17.9).
The 21.7 overnight is the highest for a Saturday Divisional Round game dating back to at least the 1998-99 season, and is tied as the 10th-highest overnight for any Divisional Round game, regardless of day, over the same period.
Saturday’s game topped the much-hyped Broncos/Patriots matchup on CBS (20.6) by 5%.
Of note, the Saturday afternoon Divisional Round game has drawn a higher overnight than the Saturday night game in seven of the eleven years since the current scheduling format began in the 2001-02 season.
(Saturday’s numbers from USA Today)
