NFL championship games draw record TV ratings


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Michelle Clancy

| 26 January 2016




The NFL’s conference championship games brought in predictably great ratings in the United States over the weekend.



The AFC title game, with the Denver Broncos prevailing in a close game over the New England Patriots, brought in 53.3 million viewers on CBS. The NFC game, on FOX, saw the Carolina Panthers blow out Arizona Cardinals for the NFC title, with 45.7 million watching.

The Broncos-Patriots was the second most watched AFC championship game in the past 39 years, just after the Jets-Steelers game in 2011, which had about 55 million viewers. It was also the most watched conference championship game in the early slot since 1978.

Sunday's two-game average of 49.7 million viewers is up 8% over last year's conference championship matches. The Broncos and the cardinals will meet in Super Bowl 50 on 7 February in San Francisco.