The defending champion Chiefs returned to the Super Bowl in front of a massive television crowd.
Sunday’s Chiefs-Ravens AFC Championship Game averaged a 25.5 rating and 55.47 million viewers on CBS, marking the largest audience on record for the AFC title game. The previous high was 54.85 million for Jets-Steelers in 2011. Excluding the Super Bowl, it was the most-watched CBS television program since the Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding-fueled 1994 Lillehammer Winter Olympics.
Keep in mind out-of-home viewing was not included in Nielsen final nationals prior to 2020 (or measured at all prior to 2016). As a result, any number of AFC title games from past years — particularly Patriots-Chiefs in 2019 (53.90M), Patriots-Broncos in 2016 (53.30M) and the aforementioned Jets-Steelers game — likely had more viewers all things being equal. The 25.5 household rating, which by definition does not include out-of-home viewing, was the highest for an AFC title game since Patriots-Chiefs in 2019 (27.5).
Kansas City’s win, which peaked with 64.02 million viewers, increased 12% in ratings and 17% in viewership from last year’s 49ers-Eagles NFC Championship on FOX in the same afternoon window (22.7, 47.50M). As one would expect, it was the most-watched early window conference title game on record. Compared to last year’s Bengals-Chiefs AFC title game in the late window, ratings were flat and viewership increased 4% from 53.12 million.
Chiefs-Ravens ranks as the highest rated and second-most watched television program since last year’s Super Bowl. The Lions-49ers NFC Championship averaged a lower rating (25.1) but larger audience (56.32M) on FOX. This year marks the first time since 2014 — and just the third time dating back to the 1991-92 season — that both conference title games have topped the 50 million mark.
CBS finished the NFL postseason with an average of 45.61 million viewers, up 12% from last year and the network’s highest playoff average since it resumed NFL coverage in the 1998-99 season.
