The NFL showcased four dramatic and exciting games last weekend, yet the league’s playoff ratings declined for a second week in a row.
The highly anticipated Ravens-Bills matchup drew an average of 42.2 million viewers, a whopping 16 percent decline from last year’s Divisional Round game that aired in that time slot.
On Sunday, the Philadelphia Eagles overcame the snow and the Los Angeles Rams, advancing to the NFC Championship Game with a 28-22 victory. However, the 37.8 million viewers who watched it were below the 40.4 million earned by the game in the comparable slot last year, representing a six percent ratings drop.
As for the team Philly faces in the NFC Championship, the Washington Commanders, their shocking upset win over Detroit earned 33.6 million viewers, a significant drop from the 37.5 million who watched the 49ers and Packers in that same slot last year.
The only game that saw an increase in viewers ( and a very modest one) was the Chiefs-Texans game in Kansas City. A total of 32.7 million watched as the referees awarded the Chiefs the win following three highly controversial calls. That number represented a slight uptick from the 32.3 million who watched the Ravens and the Texans in that same time slot last year.
Ratings for the College Football Playoff (CFP) were also down, leading some to conclude that the extended CFP format hurt the NFL by oversaturating the football viewing market.
With marquee matchups this weekend between the Bills, Chiefs, Commanders, and Eagles, all vying for a Super Bowl birth without college football, it’ll be an ideal time to test that theory.
