or


[01/23/07 - 09:22 PM]
New England-Indianapolis Is Most Watched Afc Championship Game in More Than 20 Years
CBS spins the numbers for Sunday, January 21.

[via press release from CBS]

NEW ENGLAND-INDIANAPOLIS IS MOST WATCHED AFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME IN MORE THAN 20 YEARS

AFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME ON CBS ATTRACTS 46.7 MILLION VIEWERS AND IS MOST WATCHED AND HIGHEST RATED TELEVISION PROGRAM OF 2006-2007 SEASON

CBS Sports' coverage of the AFC Championship Game featuring the New England Patriots at Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, Jan. 21 (6:44-10:23 PM, ET), averaged 46.7 million viewers (persons 2+), up +20% from 39.0 million, in 2006 (Pittsburgh-Denver; 3:08-6:16 PM, ET) and up +5% from 2005's 44.3 million (New England-Pittsburgh; 6:37-9:50 PM, ET).

Sunday's 46.7 million was the highest number of average viewers for the AFC Championship game since New England-Miami on NBC in 1986 (47.5 million).

The 46.7 million viewers for this year's AFC Championship game was the most-watched non-Super Bowl program since the series finale of "Friends" on NBC (52.5 million on 5/6/04).

"Few things stand the test of time in today's television environment like the NFL," said Sean McManus, President CBS News & Sports. "To reach viewership numbers that have not been reached in more than 20 years really builds great momentum for our team heading into the Super Bowl."

The AFC Championship Game was the most-watched television program to date of the 2006-2007 season; +25% higher than American Idol on FOX - 37.4 million (1/16/07) and +27% higher than American Idol on 1/17/07 (36.9 million).

The AFC Championship Game viewership peaked at 57.2 million from 10:00-10:23 PM.

The 2007 AFC Championship game on CBS was the most-watched program since Super Bowl programming on ABC on 2/5/06 - 90.7 million for the game between Pittsburgh and Seattle; the Super Bowl Showcase (68.9 million, 6:19-6:26 PM); Super Bowl Post-Game (59.8 million, 10:10-10:27 PM) and Super Bowl Kick-Off III (53.3 million, 5:54-6:19 PM)

CBS Sports' coverage of the AFC Championship Game earned a 26.4/39 preliminary national household rating/share, up +12 % from last year's 23.6/44 (Pittsburgh-Denver) and up +2% from 2005's 25.8/38 (New England-Pittsburgh).

The AFC Championship game scored the highest rating for a television program to date for the 2006-07 season, beating the two primetime debut telecasts of American Idol on FOX by +30% on Tuesday 1/16/07 (20.3/29) and +31% on Wednesday 1/17/07 (20.1/30).

The 2007 AFC Championship on CBS was the highest-rated program since Super Bowl programming on ABC on 2/5/06- 41.6/62 for the game between Pittsburgh and Seattle, the Super Bowl Showcase (6:19-6:26 pm- 33.2/56), the Super Bowl Post-Game (10:10-10:27pm- 29.0/44) and Super Bowl Kick-Off III - 26.6/47 from 5:54-6:19pm.

Yesterday's AFC Championship game on CBS beat last year's Academy Awards on Sunday, 3/5/06 (the highest-rated entertainment program of the last year) by +14% (26.4/39 vs. 23.1/35).

This was the third time in four years that the AFC game out-rated the NFC Championship game.

The AFC Championship Game rating peaked at a 32.4/45 from 10:00-10:23 PM.

THE NFL ON CBS's AFC playoff average for the 2006-07 season earned a 20.1/35 preliminary national rating/share, up +1% from a 19.9/37 in 2005-06. This was the third-straight year that the AFC playoffs have beaten the NFC playoff average.





  [january 2007]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
 


· SHOWATCH
(series past and present)
· DEVWATCH
(series in development)
· MOVIEWATCH
(tv movies and mini-series)





most recent ratings | view all posts
[07/09/25 - 03:03 PM]
ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 vs. CBS' "After Midnight" and NBC's "Late Night with Seth Meyers"
"Nightline" saw gains on the same week last year in Total Viewers (+3% - 663,000 vs. 644,000) and Adults 18-49 (+4% - 96,000 vs. 92,000).

[07/08/25 - 06:05 PM]
ESPN Formula 1 Coverage Enjoying Record-Breaking Season of Viewership
11 of 12 races held so far this season have had year-over-year viewership growth and seven of the 12 have set event viewership records.

[07/08/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of June 30: "Squid Game" Season 3 Leads Top 10 Globally, Climbs to No. 3 on Most Popular
Plus: "The Waterfront" maintained its Top 10 empire as the No. 1 English show in its third week with 5.6 million views.

[07/08/25 - 06:30 AM]
New AMC/AMC+ Epic Adventure Drama "Nautilus" Surfaces with 2.6 Million Premiere Night Viewers on Linear TV
The highly anticipated series premiered on Sunday, June 29 on AMC and AMC+, with new episodes premiering weekly on Sundays until the thrilling two-episode season finale on August 17.

[07/03/25 - 02:33 PM]
ABC News Same-Day Primetime Special "Verdict: The Diddy Trial" Is No. 1 in Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54
Versus the competition in the time period, "Verdict: The Diddy Trial" outperformed NBC by +40% in Adults 18-49 (212,000 vs. 151,000) and +22% in Adults 25-54.

[07/02/25 - 06:44 PM]
Tyler Perry's "Divorced Sistas" Quickly Rises to Become BET+'s Most Watched Original Series in Platform History
Just halfway through the eight-episode season, existing subscribers and new fans of the show have boosted the drama series to the most-watched series premiere on BET+ in just three weeks.

[07/02/25 - 02:38 PM]
Hallmark Channel Earns #1 Most-Watched Network on Weekends Throughout June with "Passport to Love" Programming Event
"Passport to Love" helped elevate Hallmark Channel to be the #1 most-watched network on weekends throughout the month of June.

[07/01/25 - 12:01 PM]
Top 10 Week of June 23: "Squid Game" Season 3 Takes Over with Record-Breaking Global Debut at No. 1
"The Waterfront" was a Top 10 hit once more as the No. 1 series on the English TV list (11.6 million views).

[07/01/25 - 10:26 AM]
ESPN Formula 1 Viewership Notes After Austrian Grand Prix
ESPN's live telecast on Sunday, June 29, averaged 1.1 million viewers, a two percent gain over last year's race and the largest audience ever for the event on U.S. television.

[07/01/25 - 09:16 AM]
ESPN's "Sunday Night Baseball" Featuring the Minnesota Twins vs. Detroit Tigers Averaged 2 Million Viewers - Up 66% from Last Year's Comparable Game
The audience peaked with 2,304,000 viewers in the 9:15 p.m. ET quarter hour.

[06/27/25 - 02:29 PM]
"Live with Kelly and Mark" Gears Up for Summer Rising Week to Week in All Key Measures
Wednesday, June 11, was the most-viewed day of the week among Total Viewers (2.164 million).

[06/27/25 - 10:31 AM]
"Jimmy Kimmel Live" Tops Late-Night in Adults 18-49 for Third Week in a Row
Winning three of five nights in Kimmel's final week before summer guest hosts, Thursday, June 19, was the show's strongest night among Adults 18-49 (0.35 rating).

[06/25/25 - 11:55 AM]
Prime Video Finishes Groundbreaking First Season of Exclusive NASCAR Coverage
According to Nielsen, NASCAR on Prime posted a season average of 2.16 million viewers (AMA P2+) across five events, and attracted droves of younger viewers to its live coverage.

[06/25/25 - 07:58 AM]
ABC News Primetime Special "Karen Read: The Verdict - A Special Edition of 20/20" Ranks #1 Across All of Broadcast and Cable in Adults 18-49
Plus: "Karen Read: The Verdict" placed No. 1 based on views among all titles on Hulu on Thursday (6/19), Friday (6/20) and Saturday (6/21).

[06/24/25 - 03:03 PM]
ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in All Key Target Demos 18-49 vs. CBS' "After Midnight" and NBC's "Late Night with Seth Meyers" for 2nd Consecutive Week, and Claims Top Spot in Total Viewers for the 5th Straight Week
On Monday (6/16/25), "Nightline" scored its most-watched telecast (1.112 million) in 5 months.