The NFL’s Saturday night Wild Card game was a much weaker draw than usual.
The Lions/Seahawks NFC Wild Card Game had a 16.5 overnight rating on NBC Saturday night, down 14% from Steelers/Bengals on CBS last year (19.2) and down 5% from Ravens/Steelers on NBC in 2014 (17.3). Compared to last year’s Seahawks/Vikings Wild Card on NBC, which aired in the early Sunday window, overnights fell 27% from a 22.5.
The Seahawks’ win, which peaked at a 17.2 from 9-9:30 PM ET, earned the lowest overnight for the Saturday night Wild Card window in 11 years — since Jaguars/Patriots on ABC in 2006 (15.6). It trailed the early Raiders/Chiefs game on ESPN and ABC (16.6), marking the first time since that 2006 postseason that the late Saturday window trailed the early game in the metered markets.
Seattle was the top market with a 46.8 rating, down 7% from last year’s Seahawks Wild Card on NBC (50.4). Detroit ranked second with a 33.0, with Portland (30.1), Richmond (22.5) and Milwaukee (22.0) rounding out the top five.
(Numbers via NBC Sports)
