According to CBS this afternoon, it's broadcast scored an average overnight household rating/share of 20.6/34, making it the highest-rated prime time playoff game in 11 years. The rating/share peaked at a 24.1/39 from the 9-9:30 p.m. window, which is right about the time the Patriots put it out of reach.
The key phrase here is "prime time.'' The 4:30 p.m. window on Sunday is the most appealing ratings-wise, and chances are that today's Giants-Packers game on Fox will put up bigger numbers than the Patriots-Broncos did on Saturday night, particularly if the game is competitive. The most-watched divisional game in NFL history is the Jets' 28-21 victory over the Patriots on January 16, 2011. That game, which kicked off at 4:30 p.m. on a Sunday, earned a 26.2 overnight rating, a 44 share, and had 43.5 million viewers on CBS.
The Patriots-Broncos game wasn't even the highest-rated game Saturday. The 49ers-Saints instant classic, which aired at 4:30 p.m. on Fox, grabbed a 21.7 rating.
I'll update here with the ratings from the Boston market when they become available.
Ratings are the percentage of all homes with televisions tuned into a program, while share is the percentage of homes that have televisions in use at the time. Overnight ratings are a measure of the 56 metered markets in the country.
