Fox Really Crows About Its Wild Card Playoff Ratings

The final ratings for Wild Card Weekend are coming out and Fox is really, really happy about the epic Green Bay-Arizona game which was a track meet for the second half and overtime. Fox says it’s the highest ratings for a Wild Card Playoff game since 2000 when CBS scored for Miami-Seattle. Check out the press release:

EPIC PACKERS/CARDINALS BATTLE ON FOX EARNS BEST RATING & AUDIENCE FOR A WILD CARD GAME IN A DECADE

Sunday’s thrilling Packers/Cardinals NFC Wild Card Game on FOX posted an impressive 19.6/34 household rating/share with 34.4 million viewers, according to national figures released today by Nielsen Media Research. The overtime battle is up +11% in household ratings over last year’s Eagles/Vikings Wild Card Game on FOX (17.6/30) and up a remarkable +15% on average audience (vs. 30.0 million viewers).

The NFC Wild Card Game on FOX ranks as the highest-rated Wild Card Game on any network since 2000 on CBS (20.3/38 – 1/9/00: Dolphins/Seahawks), and is the most-watched Wild Card Game on any network since 1999’s Packers/49ers matchup on FOX (35.6 mill – 1/3/99).

The highest-scoring NFL Playoff game ever opened with a strong 15.3/29 (25.6 million) at 4:41 PM ET and grew steadily, mounting to a 24.3/37 with over 44.1 million viewers at 7:45 PM ET as the Arizona Cardinals scored a defensive touchdown in overtime to end the game.

For the night, the NFC Wild Card Game combined with the 20th Anniversary Special of “The Simpsons” and the rest of FOX’s Sunday animation programming averaged a 12.0/18, nearly doubling ABC’s 6.4/10, while dwarfing CBS’s 5.9/9 and NBC’s 4.0/6.

Milwaukee led all local markets with an astonishing 49.1/70, followed by Phoenix with a 38.0/62. New Orleans, home of the NFC’s top seed, placed third (35.9/47). Minneapolis, home of the NFC #2 seed, averaged a 33.5/56.

Amazing to see the local ratings especially in the home markets of Milwaukee and Phoenix. Tremendous viewership for a game that did not have the glamor of the other Wild Card playoff games this past weekend.