CBS Sports’ New England-Denver Game Delivers Highest-Rated AFC Championship Game in 30 Years with 29.3/51

CBS Sports’ Streaming Coverage of the AFC Championship Game also Set Viewership Records with Triple-Digit Growth

CBS Sports’ coverage of the New England-Denver game on Sunday, Jan. 24 (3:06-6:40 PM, ET) is the second most-watched AFC Championship game on any network in 39 years with 53.3 million viewers (Persons 2+), behind only the New York Jets-Pittsburgh AFC Championship game on January 23, 2011 (54.9 million, late window (6:42-9:54; CBS).

New England-Denver also is the most watched early-window AFC or NFC Conference Championship game on any network in 39 years, as far back as CBS records go; 1978.  In addition, the game was the most-watched and highest-rated television program since last year’s Super Bowl coverage.  

The New England-Denver game earned a fast-national Live + Same-Day average household rating/share of 29.3/51, which is the highest rating for the AFC Championship game on any network in 30 years (1/12/86; 32.4/56; New England-Miami; NBC).  

Sunday’s AFC Championship topped the NFC Championship (Arizona-Carolina) in viewers by 17% (53.3 mil vs. 45.7 mil), and ratings by 22% (29.3/51, vs 24.1/37).   

New England-Denver peaked with an average of 62.9 million viewers from 6:00-6:30 PM, ET.

CBS Sports’ streaming coverage of the game also set viewership records with triple-digit growth in viewers and minutes streamed compared to last year's AFC Championship game. Across laptops, desktops, connected TV devices, tablets, and mobile phones, more than 1.2 million unique viewers consumed more than 89 million total minutes of coverage, with viewers watching for more than 69 minutes each on average. 

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CBS Sports Contacts: Jen Sabatelle  212/975-4120  jsabatelle@cbs.com

  Dan Sabreen  212/975-5936  dsabreen@cbs.com

  Robin Brendle  212/975-1533  rlbrendle@cbs.com