NBC's Chiefs-Steelers is Highest-Rated Primetime Playoff Game Ever in NFL Divisional and Wild Card Rounds

The Pittsburgh Steelers' down-to-the-wire 18-16 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Divisional Playoff on NBC last night averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 37.4 million viewers across NBC and NBC Sports Digital platforms, according to Fast National data released by The Nielsen Company, and digital data from Adobe Analytics.

The NBC-only broadcast of Steelers-Chiefs, the first-ever Sunday NFL Playoff game to kick off after 8 p.m. ET, averaged 37.1 million viewers - ranking as the most-watched primetime game ever in the NFL's Divisional and Wild Card Playoff rounds. TV viewership for Steelers-Chiefs peaked at 39.1 million from 9-9:30 p.m. ET.

Last night's viewership topped by 8% the prior primetime NFL Wild Card/Divisional Playoff record set three years ago by NBC's Saints-Eagles NFC Wild Card telecast (34.4 million viewers on Jan. 4, 2014) and was 10% higher than NBC's primetime Saturday Divisional Playoff game last year (33.7 million for Packers-Cardinals). The NFL introduced primetime Saturday games in the Wild Card and Divisional rounds in the 2001 season.

NBC's average of 37.1 million viewers for Steelers-Chiefs is the best for a Sunday primetime program on any network since SUPER BOWL 50 (Feb. 7, 2016). Last night's viewership is the best for an NBC NFL Playoff telecast since it acquired the Sunday Night Football package beginning with the 2006 season (excluding Super Bowls).

In addition, NBC's Steelers-Chiefs AFC Divisional Playoff telecast (8:20-11:19 p.m. ET) posted a 19.8/32 household rating, ranking as the highest-rated primetime NFL Divisional or Wild Card playoff game ever. The prior record was also set by NBC's Saints-Eagles Wild Card telecast in 2014 (19.1/31).

NBC Sports Digital's presentation of Steelers-Chiefs totaled 52 million live streaming minutes- NBC's best ever for a Sunday NFL game, excluding Super Bowls. The 52 million live streaming minutes is up 48% from last year's primetime NBC Divisional Playoff (35.1 million for Packers-Cardinals). In addition, NBC Sports Digital reached 1.1 million unique users for Steelers-Chiefs, up 44% from last year's Divisional Playoff (759,000). The Average Minute Audience for the Steelers-Chiefs live stream via the NBC Sports app, NBCSports.com, NBC.com 'TV Everywhere,' and NFL Mobile from Verizon was 260,000 viewers.

NBC's Sunday Night Football and NBC/NFL Network Thursday Night Football finished the fall TV season as the #1 and #2 shows on primetime television, based on Nielsen live+same day metrics. NBC's Sunday Night Football is on pace to be primetime TV's #1 show for a record-tying sixth consecutive year.

NBC Sports will bookend the 2017 NFL season, televising the season-opening "NFL Kickoff" game on Sept. 7, and concluding with SUPER BOWL LII from U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minn. on Feb. 4, 2018.

Image courtesy of NBC.

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