For the second-straight week, FOX scored a strong NFL playoff audience that was nonetheless down double-digits from a year ago.
Saturday’s Commanders-Lions NFC Divisional Round Game on FOX averaged a combined 33.6 million viewers across Nielsen fast-nationals and Adobe Analytics, down 10% from the Nielsen-only audience for last year’s marquee Packers-49ers matchup, which was television’s most-watched Saturday night program since 1994 (37.5M). Viewership increased 17% from a Nielsen audience of 28.6 million for the Eagles’ rout of the Giants two years ago (28.6M).
Washington’s win, which peaked with 35.7 million in the 9:30 PM ET quarter-hour, delivered the fifth-largest audience for a Saturday night Divisional Round game (dates back to 2002) — trailing Packers-49ers last year, another matchup of those teams in 2022 (36.9M), Broncos-Patriots on CBS in 2012 (34.2M) and Packers-Cardinals on NBC in 2016 (33.7M). (Those prior figures are Nielsen-only and do not include out-of-home viewing prior to 2020.)
It was the sixth of the first eight NFL postseason games to post a decline in viewership from a year ago. Four of those have declined double-digits, including both games on FOX, which last year had the benefit of two Packers games against their most storied rivals.
One of the two exceptions came earlier in the day, when ESPN and ABC combined to average 32.7 million for Texans-Chiefs — up slightly from Texans-Ravens last year (32.3M) and the most-watched early Saturday Divisional Round game since Ravens-Patriots on NBC in 2015 (34.0M).
Kansas City’s win, which peaked at 38.5 million in the 7 PM ET quarter-hour, delivered the largest non-Super Bowl NFL audience on ESPN/ABC since a Chiefs-Dolphins Wild Card game on New Year’s Eve 1994 (33.58M). The previous high was set by last year’s game.
Figures for the other Divisional Round games will be reported when available. Due to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, Nielsen figures are delayed a day from their usual release.
