THE NFL ON CBS Airs Highest-Rated AFC Championship in 29 Years
By: Caryn Robbins Jan. 25, 2016
CBS Sports' coverage of the New England-Denver 2016 AFC Championship on Sunday, Jan. 24 (3:00-6:45 PM, ET) dominated the day, earning an average overnight household rating/share of 31.8/53, making it the highest rated AFC Championship in 29 years (1/11/87; 31.9 HH rating; Denver-Cleveland-OT; NBC). The 31.8/53 is also the highest early-window game rating for both the AFC or NFC Championship since 1987.
Yesterday's AFC Championship on CBS topped the NFC Championship by +19% (26.8/40; Arizona-Carolina). In addition, the Patriots-Broncos game is the highest-rated television program in the metered markets since SUPER BOWL XLIX (2/01/15; 49.7/72 HH rating; New England-Seattle; NBC). The 31.8/53 is up +31% from last year's AFC Championship (24.2/37 for Indianapolis-New England) which aired in the late window, and up +9% from the early NFC Championship on FOX (29.1/52; Green Bay-Seattle), in 2015. This year's AFC Championship game rating peaked with a 36.6/57 from 6:00-6:30 PM, ET.Videos