The NFL Is Really Crowing About Wild Card Playoff Ratings

Just as CBS, Fox and NBC all crowed about their record Wild Card playoff ratings, the National Football League is as well. The NFL is saying that the TV ratings for the Wild Card round are the highest they’ve been since 1994 and the Eagles-Cowboys game last Saturday night was the most watched primetime Wild Card playoff game ever. Is that good? You be the judge.

‘09 WILD CARD PLAYOFFS MOST WATCHED IN 15 YEARS

AVERAGE OF 29.9 MILLION FANS WATCHED EACH GAME

PACKERS-CARDINALS ON FOX: MOST-WATCHED

WILD CARD GAME IN A DECADE

EAGLES-COWBOYS ON NBC: MOST-WATCHED

SATURDAY WILD CARD GAME EVER

Following a record-setting regular season, the NFL posted the most-watched Wild Card Weekend in 15 years. An average of 29.9 million fans watched NFL games last weekend, the most for an NFL Wild Card Weekend since the 1994 Wild Card games (game-by-game comparison below) and a 16 percent increase from last season (25.8 million viewers).

Sunday’s Green Bay Packers-Arizona Cardinals game on FOX drew 34.4 million viewers ranking as the most-watched Wild Card game in over a decade (Packers-49ers 1/3/99, 35.6 million viewers) and is the most-watched show of the current TV season. 

Saturday night’s Philadelphia Eagles-Dallas Cowboys game on NBC drew 32.1 million viewers to rank as the most-watched Saturday Wild Card game ever.

2009 NFL Wild Card Playoffs

Date & Time	Network (Game)	Viewers
Sat. Jan. 9, 2010  — 4:30 PM ET	NBC (Jets at Bengals)	25.0 million
Sat. Jan. 9, 2010 – 8:00 PM ET	NBC (Eagles at Cowboys)	32.1 million
Sun. Jan. 10, 2010  — 1:00 PM ET	CBS (Ravens at Patriots)	27.4 million
Sun. Jan. 10, 2010 – 4:40 PM ET	FOX (Packers at Cardinals)	34.4 million
WILD CARD WEEKEND	AVERAGE	29.9 million

1994 NFL Wild Card Playoffs

Date & Time	Network (Game)	Viewers
Sat. Dec. 31, 1994  — 12:30 PM ET	ABC (Lions at Packers)	23.8 million
Sat. Dec. 31, 1994 – 4:00 PM ET	ABC (Chiefs at Dolphins)	33.6 million
Sun. Jan. 1, 1995  — 12:30 PM ET	NBC (Patriots at Browns)	31.6 million
Sun. Jan. 1, 1995 – 4:00 PM ET	FOX (Bears at Vikings)	31.4 million
WILD CARD WEEKEND	AVERAGE	30.0 million

Source: NFL & Nielsen Media Research

Certainly impressive for the National Football League.