or


[01/25/16 - 07:01 AM]
"The NFL on CBS" New England-Denver Game Is Highest-Rated AFC Championship in 29 Years
CBS spins the numbers for Sunday, January 24.

[via press release from CBS]

"THE NFL ON CBS" NEW ENGLAND-DENVER GAME IS HIGHEST-RATED AFC CHAMPIONSHIP IN 29 YEARS

Patriots-Broncos is Highest-Rated Television Program Since Last Year's Super Bowl XLIX

CBS Sports' coverage of the New England-Denver 2016 AFC Championship on Sunday, Jan. 24 (3:00-6:45 PM, ET) dominated the day, earning an average overnight household rating/share of 31.8/53, making it the highest rated AFC Championship in 29 years (1/11/87; 31.9 HH rating; Denver-Cleveland-OT; NBC). The 31.8/53 is also the highest early-window game rating for both the AFC or NFC Championship since 1987.

Yesterday's AFC Championship on CBS topped the NFC Championship by +19% (26.8/40; Arizona-Carolina).

In addition, the Patriots-Broncos game is the highest-rated television program in the metered markets since Super Bowl XLIX (2/01/15; 49.7/72 HH rating; New England-Seattle; NBC).

The 31.8/53 is up +31% from last year's AFC Championship (24.2/39 for Indianapolis-New England) which aired in the late window, and up +9% from the early NFC Championship on FOX (29.1/52; Green Bay-Seattle), in 2015.

This year's AFC Championship game rating peaked with a 36.6/57 from 6:00-6:30 PM, ET.

PATRIOTS-BRONCOS IS SECOND MOST-WATCHED AFC CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME IN 39 YEARS WITH 53.3 MILLION VIEWERS

CBS Sports' New England-Denver Game Delivers Highest-Rated AFC Championship Game in 30 Years with 29.3/51

CBS Sports' Streaming Coverage of the AFC Championship Game also Set Viewership Records with Triple-Digit Growth

CBS Sports' coverage of the New England-Denver game on Sunday, Jan. 24 (3:06-6:40 PM, ET) is the second most-watched AFC Championship game on any network in 39 years with 53.3 million viewers (Persons 2+), behind only the New York Jets-Pittsburgh AFC Championship game on January 23, 2011 (54.9 million, late window (6:42-9:54; CBS).

New England-Denver also is the most watched early-window AFC or NFC Conference Championship game on any network in 39 years, as far back as CBS records go; 1978. In addition, the game was the most-watched and highest-rated television program since last year's Super Bowl coverage.

The New England-Denver game earned a fast-national Live + Same-Day average household rating/share of 29.3/51, which is the highest rating for the AFC Championship game on any network in 30 years (1/12/86; 32.4/56; New England-Miami; NBC).

Sunday's AFC Championship topped the NFC Championship (Arizona-Carolina) in viewers by 17% (53.3 mil vs. 45.7 mil), and ratings by 22% (29.3/51, vs 24.1/37).

New England-Denver peaked with an average of 62.9 million viewers from 6:00-6:30 PM, ET.

CBS Sports' streaming coverage of the game also set viewership records with triple-digit growth in viewers and minutes streamed compared to last year's AFC Championship game. Across laptops, desktops, connected TV devices, tablets, and mobile phones, more than 1.2 million unique viewers consumed more than 89 million total minutes of coverage, with viewers watching for more than 69 minutes each on average.





  [january 2016]  
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
[10/23/26 - 03:54 PM]
ESPN's NBA Opening Wednesday Delivered Its Second-Largest Audience Ever
The Minnesota Timberwolves' victory over the Miami Heat averaged 2.52 million viewers, up 16% from last year's comparable game.

[10/23/26 - 03:25 PM]
USA Sports Delivers Most-Watched WNBA Finals Game 3 Since 1999, Best Ever on Cable
1.71 million viewers on average tuned into Wednesday night's Game 3 coverage across USA Sports' linear platforms (USA Network and CNBC) and streaming on Peacock.

[10/23/26 - 08:30 AM]
Record College Football Viewership Propels ESPN to Second Best Start Since 2011 with "College GameDay" on Track for Most-Watched Season Ever
ESPN networks are averaging 2.2 million viewers across 120 games on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU - the second-best start for ESPN since 2011.

[10/22/26 - 04:01 PM]
ABC News Wins Across Friday Night, Sunday Morning and Late-Night
"20/20: The Suitcase Murders" ranked as Friday's No. 1 newsmagazine in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54, and Adults 18-49.

[10/22/26 - 04:00 PM]
CBS Dominates Its Premiere Week in Seven-Day Multiplatform Viewership, Up +14% from Last Year, with Six Series Topping 10 Million Viewers
Among its broadcast competition, CBS claimed eight of the top 10 series.

[10/22/26 - 02:50 PM]
NBC Sports Delivers Most-Watched NBA Tip-Off Primetime Game Ever with 76ers-Knicks
Viewership peaked at 9.1 million - an NBA Tip-Off record - from 9:45-10:00 pm ET as the 76ers clinched the victory.

[10/22/26 - 02:00 PM]
"Dancing with the Stars" Waltzes to Season High During Heartfelt "Dedication Night" with 7.36 Million Total Viewers
The October 20 episode hit a season high with the show's best non-finale episode in six years.

[10/21/26 - 04:01 PM]
USA Sports' Coverage of Dream-Valkyries Game 2 Is Most-Watched WNBA Finals Game 2 Ever on Cable
Monday night's coverage averaged 1.33 million viewers across USA Sports' linear platforms (USA Network, CNBC and E!).

[10/21/26 - 03:15 PM]
It's Back to School at "Abbott Elementary" as Show Returns with Over 6 Million Total Viewers
The premiere episode scored the show's best streaming performance since Season 4, based on views over seven days on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+.

[10/21/26 - 02:31 PM]
Commanders-49ers on "Monday Night Football" Delivers 17.9 Million Viewers
Six weeks into ESPN's Super Bowl LXI season, "Monday Night Football" is up 23% compared to the same point in 2025, averaging 19 million viewers.

[10/21/26 - 11:01 AM]
Top 10 Most-Watched Prime Original Films & Series for the Week of October 12
"Carrie," "Neagley," "Reacher," "Off Campus," and "Sterling Point" led all original series worldwide.

[10/21/26 - 06:39 AM]
NFL Network's London Slate Culminates with 6.4M Viewers for Jaguars-Texans
Season to date, through three games in London, NFL Network is averaging 6.9M viewers, up 15% vs. the network's six-game International Series average last season.

[10/21/26 - 06:30 AM]
NBC and Peacock Deliver Most-Watched WNBA Finals Game 1 Ever
Led by Gabby Williams' 26 points, Golden State's 68-64 win over Atlanta peaked at 3.0 million viewers for the game's exciting conclusion from 5:45 - 5:55 p.m. ET.

[10/20/26 - 03:19 PM]
"College GameDay Built by The Home Depot" Delivers Its Third Most-Watched Regular-Season Episode Ever from BYU
ESPN networks had 3 of the top 4 games this week, the second most-watched regular season Saturday on record (based on minutes).

[10/20/26 - 03:08 PM]
Ohio State's Win Over Indiana Scores Most-Watched College Football Game of the Week
Viewership peaked at 14,269,000 viewers from 3:30-3:45 PM ET on FOX.