According to a report from Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch, Sunday’s AFC Divisional Playoff game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Buffalo Bills drew an average audience of 42.2 million viewers to CBS. This makes it the most-watched game so far of the NFL season, beating out the 38.8 million on FOX Thanksgiving Day.
Last year, the Sunday Divisional Round late game featured the Kansas City Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills, and that game drew more than 50 million, marking a 16% decline year-over-year.
The other Sunday game, which featured the Los Angeles Rams and the Philadelphia Eagles, drew 37.8 million average viewers. That window also had a decline from last year when the game drew 40.4 million viewers to see the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Detroit Lions.
According to Lewis, “Through the Divisional Round, eight of ten NFL playoff games have declined from last year. That includes three of four games on Divisional Round weekend, the exception being Texans-Chiefs on ESPN/ABC.”
This weekend will see FOX carry the first conference championship game at 3 p.m. ET between the Eagles and the Commanders. CBS will have the AFC Championship game at :30 ET between the Bills and the Chiefs.
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