A postseason of impressive ratings continued with blockbuster numbers for the NFC Championship Game.
The Saints’ overtime win over the Vikings drew a whopping 33.3 overnight rating on FOX Sunday night, up 40% from Ravens/Steelers on CBS last year (23.8/47), up 5% from Giants/Packers on FOX in ’08 (31.7/46), and up 19% from Patriots/Colts on CBS in ’07 (28.1/40).
Ratings peaked at a 39.4 from 10:00-10:30 PM.
The 33.3 overnight is the highest for any NFL Conference Championship game since Cowboys/49ers in ’95 (34.2).
Additionally, the 33.3 is the highest overnight for any sporting event (excluding the Olympics and the Super Bowl) since the aforementioned ’94 game — soaring past events such as Game 7 of the ’01 World Series (27.0), Game 6 of the ’98 NBA Finals (22.9), and the ’06 Texas/USC Rose Bowl (22.7).
Vikings/Saints is on pace to be the most-viewed television program of any kind, again excluding Super Bowls, since the series finale of Seinfeld in ’98 (76.3 mil). Currently, the 2008 Giants/Packers NFC title game holds that distinction, with 53.9 million.
Entering the game, the highest local rating ever for an NFC Championship Game was a 59.5 for the Milwaukee market in ’97. The New Orleans market easily topped that number, drawing a massive 63.2 rating — not only the highest for the NFC Championship Game, but the highest local rating ever for any NFL telecast on FOX, including Super Bowls.
In Minneapolis-St. Paul, the game drew a similarly massive 58.7.
The game did not dominate in all markets. In Buffalo, Vikings/Saints was actually outdrawn head-to-head by Extreme Makeover Home Edition on ABC, with Extreme Makeover drawing a 35.8 and the game drawing a 32.1.
