For the third straight year, the NFL is riding a wave of momentum into the Super Bowl.
The NFL Conference Championship games averaged 53.7 million viewers on FOX and CBS, up 1% from last year (53.4M), up 2% from 2010 (52.9M), and the highest average for the Conference Championship round since the 1981-82 season (60.2M).
This marks the third straight season the Conference Championship round has been the most-viewed since ’82.
Earlier in the postseason, the four Divisional Round games on FOX and CBS averaged 36.6 million viewers — up 4% from last year (35.1M), up 11% from 2010 (33.0M), and the highest average ever for the Divisional Round.
The only relatively weak spot this postseason was the Wild Card round. The four games which averaged 31.0 million on NBC, FOX and CBS, down 4% from last year (32.3M), but up 4% from 2010 (29.9M).
Though down from last year, the Wild Card round was the second-most viewed ever.
Average Viewership For NFL Playoff Rounds
Past four seasons
(This year’s numbers from NFL press release via Fang’s Bites [1], [2], [3])
