The Oakland Raiders' win over the New York Jets on CBS on Sunday delivered the highest overnight score for a conference semifinal in five years.
The NFL continued its strong ratings run Sunday, as the playoff game on CBS between the New York Jets and Oakland Raiders delivered the highest overnight score for any conference semifinal in five years.
The Raiders' 30-10 victory averaged a 23.6 rating/40 share in Nielsen's metered markets from 4:45-8:15 p.m. ET, giving the Eye net's primetime sked a big boost. Combined with "60 Minutes" and the "29th Annual People's Choice Awards," CBS dominated Sunday with its best delivery on the night since May.
The game, which drew a 28.2/42 in New York and a 35.2/64 in the San Francisco Bay Area, is the highest-rated conference semifinal for the National Football League since a Denver Broncos-Kansas City Chiefs match-up on NBC five years ago (25.0/43).
Year-to-year gain
Overall, the NFL's four conference semifinal games Saturday and Sunday averaged a 20.4 rating -- a 4% rise vs. last year, up 19% from 2001 and the best since January 1998.
Earlier Sunday, the NFC game between the San Francisco 49ers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-4:15 p.m. ET) earned a 20.7/40 in the overnights, up 4% from the late-Sunday conference semifinal game on CBS a year ago (19.9/40 for Baltimore Ravens-Pittsburgh Steelers) but off slightly from Fox's earlier game on the same day last year (21.0/36 for Green Bay Packers-St. Louis Rams).
Game did a 48.9/74 in Tampa, Fla., and a 34.6/69 in the Bay Area (slightly below the Raiders' score there).
On Saturday, the early AFC game on CBS between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Tennessee Titans scored a big 20.3/36 in the overnights, up 9% over last year's early Saturday game on Fox (Philadelphia Eagles-Chicago Bears) and 6% better than CBS' late Saturday game (Raiders-New England Patriots). Rating is the highest for an early Saturday game in this round since 1994 (23.9/51 for Raiders-Buffalo Bills on NBC).
Game drew a huge 52.8/77 in Pittsburgh and a 48.9/69 in Nashville, Tenn.
Saturday's primetime contest between the Atlanta Falcons and Eagles on Fox (8:15-11:45 p.m.) netted a 17.2/27 in overnights, down 10% from last year's late CBS Saturday game and off 8% from Fox's early Saturday game. It scored a 42.1/58 in Philadelphia and a 39.1/53 in Atlanta.
The conference championship games are set for Sunday, with the NFC battle between Tampa Bay and Philadelphia kicking off at 3 p.m. ET on Fox, followed by the AFC contest between Tennessee and Oakland. Latter game, on CBS, will run well into primetime in most of the country and go head to head with NBC's coverage of the Golden Globes.
'Choice' audience
As for the "People's Choice Awards," the annual kudocast averaged roughly 15 million viewers and a 5.6 rating in adults 18-49, on par with last year. It topped second-place NBC's dramas from 9 to 11 by 3 shares in the demo and by about 1 million viewers overall.
Peacock's "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" surged to a new timeslot high at 9 (prelim 5.5/12 in adults 18-49). Aside from football, Fox's "The Simpsons" was the night's highest-rated program in the demo (prelim 6.1/14).
Contact Rick Kissell at
rick.kissell@variety.com