Chiefs-Bills Game Draws 56 Million Viewers

NFL football games keep bringing in the viewers and last week’s playoff games were phenomenal for the league.

Last Sunday’s Kansas Chiefs at Buffalo Bills game on CBS was the most-watched NFL Divisional Playoff Game ever and the first to surpass 50 million viewers, averaging 50.393 million viewers and up +10% vs. last year’s comparable game (Cowboys-49ers, 45.659 million viewers). The previous record was 48.522 million viewers for Cowboys-Packers on Jan. 15, 2017.

Kansas City’s 27-24 victory was the most-watched program on any network since Super Bowl LVII (Feb. 12, 2023).

Sunday’s game peaked with more than 56 million viewers (56.250) according to CBS. The Bills missed a late field goal to tie the game.

On Fox, Saturday’s NFL Playoffs game between the Green Bay Packers and San Francisco 49ers had 37.5 million viewers and projects to be the most-watched Saturday telecast on any network since the 1994 Winter Olympics – peaking at 40.9 million from 11:00-11:15 PM ET. The Divisional Round on Fox was up +31% over last year’s game that aired in the same window (28.6 million for New York Giants-Philadelphia Eagles).

The Detroit Lions’ 31-23 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday ranks as NBC Sports’ most watched NFL Divisional Playoff game since 1994, averaging a Total Audience Delivery of 40.4 million viewers across NBC TV, Peacock, NBC Sports Digital, and NFL Digital platforms, according to Nielsen custom fast national data and Adobe Analytics.

Highlighted by quarterbacks Jared Goff of Detroit and Baker Mayfield of Tampa Bay combining to pass for more than 600 yards and five touchdowns, and tie scores in each of the first three quarters, the game’s audience peaked at 49.1 million viewers from 6-6:12 p.m. ET as the Bucs mounted a final drive to attempt to tie the score.

Led by Peacock, Bucs-Lions delivered NBC Sports’ third consecutive NFL Playoff simulstream audience of at least 3 million viewers, registering an Average Minute Audience of 3.3 million viewers across Peacock, NBC Sports Digital, and NFL Digital Properties.

The three NFL Playoff games over the last two weekends on NBC averaged approximately 31.9 million viewers on broadcast alone – the largest NFL Playoff audience average for NBC stations since 2020.

Additional ratings and viewership notes:

• • The Bucs-Lions viewership (40.4 million) is NBC Sports’ most-watched NFL Divisional Playoff in 30 years (41.1 million for a Jan. 16, 1994, matchup of Hall of Fame quarterbacks, as Joe Montana led the Kansas City Chiefs to a 28-20 win over Warren Moon and the Houston Oilers).
• • Sunday’s game (3:03-6:12 p.m. ET) registered a national NBC TV household rating of 18.6/52.

ESPN’s NFL Divisional Playoff game between Houston and Baltimore was also a record-shattering showdown for ESPN, marking consecutive years in which the final game of the season was its most-watched NFL game ever, playoffs or regular season, dating back to 1987 when ESPN acquired NFL rights.

With an audience of 32.4 million, the Houston Texans at Baltimore Ravens (ESPN, ABC, ESPN+, and ESPN Deportes on Saturday, Jan. 20) surpassed the 2023 Super Wild Card Monday night game featuring the Dallas Cowboys at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (January 16, 2023) for ESPN’s top spot.

The Texans-Ravens audience peaked at nearly 37 million viewers late in the game (7 – 7:15 p.m. ET).

ESPN’s Most-Watched NFL Games Ever, Dating Back to 1987