Ratings Roundup: NFC Championship Up Slightly Over 2016 Game, AFC Overnight Down From Pats/Broncos

Ratings roundup is a rundown of ratings news from the past week and is derived from press releases and reports around the industry. In this week’s edition, Fox Sports NFC Championship game was up slightly over last year’s game (according to Nielsen Fast Nationals), while CBS’s AFC Championship was slightly down (according to overnights). In addition, season two debut of NBA Saturday Primetime on ABC was the highest-rated, non-Christmas NBA game of the 2016-17 regular season across ESPN and ABC. 

NFC, AFC Championship Draw Mixed Ratings Bag
FOX Sports’ coverage of the 2017 NFC Championship Game between the Green Bay Packers and Atlanta Falcons Sunday afternoon registered a 24.8/45 household rating/share with 46.005 million viewers on the FOX broadcast network (according to Nielsen fast nationals). Sunday’s contest is up 3% over last year’s NFC Championship Game (vs. 24.1/37) and is 1% better than last year’s average audience (vs. 45.739 million viewers) for the Cardinals/Panthers.

Combined with FOX Deportes (91,000 total viewers) and FOX Sports GO (326,000 average minute audience), Sunday’s NFC Championship Game delivered 46.422 million viewers. Sunday afternoon’s Green Bay vs. Atlanta contest opened with a 19.5/40 household rating/share (33.897 million viewers) at kickoff and peaked to an impressive 26.5/47 (50.004 million viewers) at 5:30 PM ET.

FOX Sports GO registered its second-best authenticated NFL game ever with over 4.1 million stream starts (+129% vs. 2016), 67 million minutes streamed (+137% vs. 2016) and delivered an average minute audience of 326,000 which is up +126% over last year.

FOX Deportes’ coverage of Sunday’s Packers vs. Falcons matchup delivered an additional 91,000 total viewers to the telecast

FOX’s four NFC Playoff matchups in 2017 averaged a 22.2/40 with 40.758 million viewers, up +1% over last year’s three-game average on FOX (vs. 22.3/39 with 40.352 million viewers).  Excluding this year’s Saturday divisional game, FOX is up +11% over last year’s audience delivery (44.672 million viewers vs. 40.352 million viewers) on a like-to-like basis…

…On the AFC side of the Conference Championship equation, Steelers/Patriots earned a 27.6 overnight rating on CBS on Sunday, up 3% from last year’s Cardinals/Panthers NFC Championship on FOX (26.8), up 14% from Colts/Patriots on CBS in 2015 (24.2) and the highest for the late conference championship window since 49ers/Seahawks on FOX three years ago (31.0). However, compared to last year’s Patriots/Broncos AFC Championship (which aired in the afternoon window), the overnight was down 13% from a 31.8. (SportsMediaWatch)

NBA Saturday Primetime on ABC Debuts With Solid Numbers
The season two debut of NBA Saturday Primetime on ABC is the highest-rated, non-Christmas NBA game of the 2016-17 regular season across ABC and ESPN. The San Antonio Spurs’ thrilling overtime victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers averaged a 2.6 metered market rating, peaking with a 4.0 rating from 11-11:15 p.m. ET, according to Nielsen. However, the game was down 10% from Bulls/Cavaliers last year (2.9).

NBA Saturday Primetime on ABC delivered a 13.9 rating in the San Antonio market, making it the highest-rated game in the market this season across networks. The broadcast generated a 12.2 in the Cleveland market, placing it as the second-highest rated game in the market this season across networks. 

The Spurs-Cavaliers showdown delivered a significant streaming audience with 9,146,000 total minutes streamed, 231,800 unique viewers and an average minute audience of 59,800 viewers. This is up 28%, 31% and 14%, respectively, from last year’s season debut.

Ratings Odds and Ends 
Bellator MMA saw 1.85 million viewers tune in for the final fight in Tito Ortiz’s storied career, where he bested Chael Sonnen, to mark the most watched Bellator fight on Spike since last February, according to Nielsen. Overall, Bellator 170 delivered 1.4 million viewers – making it the 3rd most watched card in the franchise’s history. (Cynopsis Sports)