NEW YORK – In its 25th year of NFL coverage, FOX Sports’ final NFL broadcast of the 2018-19 season was capped in dramatic fashion with a 26-23 overtime victory as the Los Angeles Rams defeated the New Orleans Saints to claim the NFC Championship.
The game registered FOX’s highest-rated and most-watched broadcast since Super Bowl LI. Combined across FOX, FOX Deportes and the FOX Sports App, Sunday afternoon’s NFC Championship Game produced 45,037,000 total viewers, up +5% over last year (vs. 42,875,000 viewers).
On the FOX broadcast network, Sunday’s game delivered a 24.5/48 household rating/share with 44,075,000 million viewers, up +13% over last year’s performance for the NFC Championship game between the Minnesota Vikings and Philadelphia Eagles (vs. 21.7 HH RTG; 42,329,000 viewers), according to Nielsen Media Research.
“Celebrating our 25th NFL season, our goals were to help make Thursday Night Football the best it’s ever been while maintaining AMERICA’S GAME OF THE WEEK as the No. 1 show in all of television – we succeeded in doing so,” said Eric Shanks, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Producer, FOX Sports, “Yesterday’s thriller at the Superdome was the perfect finish to our momentous season.”
Sunday’s contest peaked with an astounding 54,057,000 viewers on FOX as Rams kicker Greg Zuerlein made history with a 57-yard field goal to win it in overtime and send Los Angeles to the Super Bowl. New Orleans led all markets with a 59.5/82 followed by Kansas City (37.7/61), Buffalo (34.5/49), Indianapolis (34.2/51) and Providence (32.0/48) to round out the top five. Los Angeles registered a 26.4/59.
On FOX Deportes, the contest averaged 143,000 viewers, to register as the second most-watched NFC Championship game in Spanish Language television history behind 2014’s San Francisco 49ers – Seattle Seahawks matchup (vs. 209,000 viewers). Yesterday’s game is up +81% over last year’s NFC Championship on FOX Deportes (vs. 78,000 viewers).
On the FOX Sports digital front, Sunday afternoon’s performance ended on a high note with an average minute audience of 818,609 marking the 2018-19 season as the most-streamed NFL season ever on FOX. Rams-Saints is the most-streamed NFL playoff game in FOX history, up +75% over last year’s NFC Championship matchup (vs. 468,000 AMA).
–FOX SPORTS–
About FOX Sports
FOX Sports is the umbrella entity representing 21st Century FOX’s wide array of multi-platform US-based sports assets. Built with brands capable of reaching more than 100 million viewers in a single weekend, FOX Sports includes ownership and interests in linear television networks, digital and mobile programming, broadband platforms, multiple web sites, joint-venture businesses and several licensing partnerships. FOX Sports includes the sports television arm of the FOX Broadcasting Company; FS1, FS2; FOX Sports Regional Networks, their affiliated regional web sites and national programming; FOX Soccer Plus; FOX Deportes and FOX College Sports. In addition, FOX Sports also encompasses FOX Sports Digital, including FOXSports.com and the FOX Sports app. Also included in the Group are FOX’s interests in joint-venture businesses Big Ten Network and BTN 2Go, as well as a licensing agreement that established the FOX Sports Radio Network.
