Among the Nerds of the Sports Audience, a fascinating subject is discussed this week:
Can Buffalo Bills – Kansas City Chiefs have set a record for the most watched AFC championship in history?
The record to beat: 55.47 million viewers.
You don’t have to come back far for registration data. He was the viewer for the Chiefs-Ravens match last year, a 17-10 Kansas City victory with stars through the field and the most famous pop singer in a sequel to the M&T Bank Stadium Baltimore.
Last year’s match has exceeded the previous AFC championship record of 54.85 million viewers for the 2011 AFC championship between New York Jets and Pittsburgh Steelers.
Perhaps the most impressive thing about the viewers of last year chiefs – the game was the game in the NFL Sunday window (from 3:03 p.m. to 6:12 p.m.) as opposed to the Subsequent window, which traditionally attracts more viewers.
The file of all time to any The conference championship match (and also the NFC record) will not be overcome:
In 1982, the 49ers of Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco Drew 68.7 million Viewers on CBS for the NFC championship match (always remember to “The Catch” by Dwight Clark by San Francisco).
The audience metrics have changed considerably since then, as is the number of American television households, therefore comparing viewers from 1982 to today compare Atari to PlayStation 5. If the measure “Out of the House” (which follows television In public places such as bars, hotels and restaurants) existed in 1982, the audience number of the Title NFC 1982 could be 75 to 80 million.
CBS will broadcast the Bills-Chief’s match at 6.30 p.m. HE on Sunday, and we should get the NFL audience at the start of next week. (Paramount Global has not renewed his contract with Nielsen for the measure of the public – part of a broader dispute between the company and Nielsen – CBS Sports will not publish the data on Monday morning as it would normally the previous years. ))
Below, we make the cases “Bull” and “Bear” for a new record:
The Bull affair
The chiefings have exceeded cowboys in the short term, as I have spent it here, as a Bell cow from the league for the audience.
The match will be played in the most seen linear television window (late Sunday afternoon / start of the evening).
The real sports part and the stories are incredible: Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid are in their seventh consecutive AFC championship; Bills have a whole life of sorrow, including Buffalo leading Kansas City with 13 seconds to play in a divisional round match in 2021 before losing.
There is also a literal external factor: this week has seen a historically cold time, especially in the south. It keeps people at home.
The founder and editor -in -chief of sports Media Watch, Jon Lewis, thinks that the match and the time slot will push the game on the record brand of the AFC championship.
“With a better match (feet) and a window (6.30 p.m. he), I expected the title game AFC exceeding last year, unless one eruption,” said Lewis. “Since Lions-Niners had 57 million viewers in this window last year, I think that 60 million may well be at stake, although I would not necessarily say that it is the most likely scenario. Somewhere, about 58-59 million seem right to me. »»
The expert in television on the sports newspaper Austin Karp agrees with Lewis: “I think it will be the most watched AFC championship because it is the Hailee Steinfeld against Taylor Swift Bowl ”, Declared Karp. Millions.
The bear case
In simple terms: the NFL viewer is down so far in the playoffs.
The four games of the NFL division weekend were on average 36.6 million viewers, the lowest note for the second round of the playoffs since 2021, according to Karp using the data from the Nielsen ratings. In comparison, last season has established a division record with an average of 40 million viewers for the four games.
The Bills-Ravens game has not reached the heights that you expect, drawing 42.2 million viewers in Nielsen rating data. Yes, it was 40 million difficulties + for the NFL, but far from the Chiefs-Bils match last year (50.4 million) in the same time niche.
The only divisional round match to increase compared to last year was the Chiefs-Texans, which finished with 33.8 million viewers broadcast on ESPN, ABC, ESPN +, ESPN Deportes and NFL +. It was up four percent compared to the same day and to the same time session of 2023.
The verdict
Everything indicates a tight match. The chiefs have opened the favorites of 1.5 points, and the line has since moved half a point in their favor. I think we see a recording of visualization of televisionAnd as a person who lived in Buffalo for six years, I must admit that I want the city to wake up happy on Monday.
If you are interested in the way AthleticsNFL journalists are approaching their coverage of the Bills-Chiefs game, the episode of this week of the Podcast Sports Media with Richard Déitsch presents Joe Buscaglia, which covers invoices for AthleticsAnd Nate Taylor, who covers the chefs.
The two journalists detail what their week will lead to one of the biggest matches in the season; the access they get to Allen, Mahomes, Travis Kelce and other star players; What is that for Nate to cover a team that went to the AFC championship match every year, he covered it; Why this game in many ways is more on the journey of the Bills than the chefs; And how the two journalists sail on many responsibilities on a Sunday.
(Photo: Michael Owens, on the left, Aaron M. Sprecher, Right / Getty images)
