Both Fox and CBS scored soaring gains in viewing -- the highest
in several years -- for their respective NFC and AFC Championship games this past weekend.
Fox’s airings of the Los Angeles Rams' close win over the San Francisco 49ers in the
final minutes pulled in 50.4 million viewers --- the highest NFC Championship game total in eight years.
This data comes from Nielsen Media Research and Adobe Analytics, and
includes airings of the game on Fox Television Network, Fox Deportes, Fox Sports streaming platforms, NFL Digital and Yahoo Sports.
Fox, in a release, did not break out specific
details for each platform.
CBS says the airing of the Cincinnati Bengals' win over the Kansas City Chiefs pulled in 47.9 million viewers -- the most-watched AFC Conference
Championship game in the early-afternoon time slot in six years.
These results include streaming viewership on its Paramount+ platform, which CBS did not break out in its press
release. CBS says it was the most-streamed non-Super Bowl game of all time.
CBS aired four games this season -- three playoff games and one regular-season game (on Thanksgiving,
between the Las Vegas Raiders and the Dallas Cowboys) -- that posted 40 million or more viewers. CBS says these results surpassed all TV networks combined.
The NFL’s
Championship games are typically the second and third-biggest TV telecasts of the year, behind the Super Bowl.