The Cowboys delivered a record Saturday night audience to FOX.
Saturday’s Cowboys-Rams NFC Divisional Round game earned a 17.9 rating and 33.4 million viewers on FOX, per Nielsen fast-nationals — up 23% in ratings and 25% in viewership from last year (Titans-Patriots: 14.5, 26.7M) and up 12% in both measures from 2016 (Texans-Patriots: 16.0, 29.8M).
The Rams’ win ranks as the highest rated and most-watched Saturday night Divisional Round game in three years (2016 Packers-Cardinals: 18.8, 33.7M).
Going back further, it delivered the third-largest Divisional Round audience on a Saturday night (18 telecasts dating back to 2002), behind the 2016 game and Broncos-Patriots in 2012 (34.2M). Regardless of round, it ranks as the fourth-most watched Saturday night playoff game, behind the aforementioned games and Saints-Eagles in the 2014 Wild Card round (34.4M).
For FOX, it was the most-watched Saturday night program in network history. The network’s top Saturday night World Series game had 30.4 million (1996 Braves-Yankees Game 6).
Keep in mind some Saturday afternoon games have done better, including the Saints-49ers Divisional Round game on FOX in 2014 (20.5, 35.6M),
The 17.9 rating is tied as the third-highest for a Saturday night Divisional Round game, matching Jaguars-Patriots in 2008 and behind both 2016 and 2012 (18.5).
The game had a streaming audience of 619,000 viewers, a record for an NFL playoff game on Fox Sports’ digital platforms. Including that audience, and the 127,000 who watched on Fox Deportes, the game had 34.1 million viewers.
Though strong, ratings and viewership were the lowest for a Cowboys game in the Divisional Round since at least 1996. Four of the Cowboys’ previous five Divisional Round games exceeded 40 million, including their previous appearance two years ago against the Packers. That game had a 26.1 rating and an early-round-record 48.5 million viewers. Keep in mind that it aired in the late Sunday afternoon window, the highest rated of any given NFL weekend.
This year marked Dallas’ first Saturday Divisional Round game since 1986, also against the Rams.
[Numbers from Fox Sports PR]
