Perhaps it was the additional games, or just a extension of the industry’s downward trend, but NFL Wild Card weekend was less than super in the ratings.
Bears-Saints led the NFL’s expanded six-game Wild Card weekend slate with a Nielsen-estimated 16.4 rating and 30.65 million viewers across CBS, CBS All-Access and Nickelodeon — down 15% in ratings and 13% in viewership from the same window last year (Seahawks-Eagles: 19.2, 35.12M) and down 17% and 15% respectively from 2019 (Eagles-Bears: 19.7, 35.89M). Those games aired on NBC.
In particular, CBS averaged 28.59 million and Nickelodeon 2.06 million — the latter up 245% from the comparable window last year and a four-year high.
New Orleans’ win, which peaked with a combined 33.63 million from 7-7:15 PM ET, delivered television’s largest audience since last year’s Super Bowl, pending updated figures for the Thanksgiving Day Washington-Dallas game (30.33M). It was the most-watched Sunday Wild Card game on CBS since 2014 (Chargers-Bengals: 30.88M), but trailed the network’s lone Wild Card game last year, Titans-Patriots on a Saturday night (31.42M).
It was the least-watched Wild Card game in the late Sunday afternoon window since 2008 (Titans-Chargers: 26.63M) and the lowest rated since at least 1998.
Earlier in the day, ESPN averaged a 14.2 and 24.82 million for Ravens-Titans on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and Freeform — down 18% in both measures from Vikings-Saints on FOX last year (17.4, 29.93M) and down 8% and 2% respectively from Chargers-Ravens on CBS in 2019 (15.4, 25.38M). Compared to last year’s Wild Card game on ESPN/ABC — Bills-Texans on a Saturday afternoon — ratings fell 7% (from 15.2) and viewership 6% (from 26.34M).
ABC’s simulcast averaged a 10.9 and 19.04 million — actually up from last year — while ESPN pulled a 3.22 and 5.58 million. ESPN2 chipped in a 0.1 and 92,000 and Freeform a mere 0.04 and 67,000.
Shifting to primetime, NBC averaged a 13.4 and 24.78 million for Browns-Steelers, with the viewership figure rising to 26.0 million including the 1.04 million who streamed the game on Peacock and the usual suite of NFL and NBC digital platforms. There was no comparable Sunday night window last year. As previously noted, NBC’s lone Wild Card game last season (Seahawks-Eagles) was considerably higher at a 19.2 and 35.12 million.
NBC also averaged an 11.5 and 21.37 million for Tampa Bay-Washington on Saturday night, down a third in ratings and 32% in viewership from last year on CBS (Titans-Patriots: 17.1, 31.42M), down 28% and 27% respectively from 2019 on FOX (Seahawks-Cowboys: 15.9, 29.38M) and the lowest rated Wild Card game on any network since at least 1998.
FOX took top honors on Saturday with a 12.7 (-16%) and 23.96 million (-9%) for Rams-Seahawks, the network’s lowest rated Wild Card game since at least 1998 and least-watched since 2008 (Giants-Buccaneers: 22.97M).
Rounding out the expanded weekend, Colts-Bills started things off with an 11.6 and 20.08 million — marking the least-watched Wild Card game on any network since Colts-Jets on ABC in 2003 (19.66M).
[Nielsen estimates from ShowBuzz Daily, CBS PR, NBC Sports PR, ESPN PR, Fox Sports PR]
