Football fans across America continue to tune in to NFL games, resulting in the most-watched Conference Championship Sunday in 28 years. An average of 52.9 million fans watched NFL games last weekend, the most for an NFL Conference Championship Sunday since January 1982 (game-by-game comparison below) and a 34 percent increase from last season (39.6 million viewers).
The Minnesota Vikings-New Orleans Saints NFC Championship Game on FOX drew 57.9 million viewers to rank as the most-watched conference championship game since the 1981 NFC Championship Game featuring "The Catch" (Dallas-San Francisco on CBS on January 10, 1982, 68.7 million viewers) and the most watched non-Super Bowl program on television since the series finale of Seinfeld 12 years ago (76.3 million on May 14, 1998).
According to FOX, New Orleans delivered a 63.2/82 last night, the highest local rating for a postseason NFL game ever, beating the home market rating of every team that has ever played in a Super Bowl.
The New York Jets-Indianapolis Colts matchup on CBS drew 46.9 million viewers to rank as the most-watched AFC Championship Game in 24 years (Patriots-Dolphins on NBC on January 12, 1986, 47.5 million).
