Not surprisingly, the Bears’ win over the sub-.500 Seahawks was down double-digits from last year’s higher-profile Cowboys/Vikings game.
Sunday’s Seahawks/Bears NFC Divisional Round game earned a 19.1 final rating and 32.493 million viewers on FOX, down 13% in ratings and 14% in viewership from last year (DAL/MIN: 22.0, 37.669 mil), but up 2% and 4%, respectively, from 2008 (PHI/NYG: 18.7, 31.358 mil).
Seahawks/Bears ranks as the second-lowest rated early Sunday Divisional Round game since 2003, but the third-most viewed over that same span.
Sunday’s game stands as the first and only game of the 2011 NFL postseason to have a decline in ratings or viewership versus last year’s comparable window.
For comparison’s sake, the 2007 Seahawks/Bears Divisional Round game, which also aired in the early timeslot, drew a 19.9 and 31.594 million viewers.
The Bears’ victory earned a 43.2 in Chicago and a 38.2 in Seattle.
(FOX press release from Fang’s Bites)
