Seahawks-Viking is Most-Watched Early Sunday NFL WILD CARD Game

The Seattle Seahawks' 10-9 down-to-the-wire victory over the Minnesota VIKINGS in yesterday's NFL Wild Card game on NBC averaged 35.3 million viewers to rank as the most-watched early Sunday Wild Card on record (People Meter history dates to 1988), according to Fast National data from The Nielsen Company.

Viewership for the Seahawks' victory, paced by Russell Wilson's 103.9 fourth-quarter passer rating in leading Seattle to the game's final 10 points, is up 25% from last year's early Sunday Wild Card game (28.3 million for Bengals-Colts on CBS), and tops by 27% the last early Sunday NFC Wild Card game (27.7 million for Falcons-Giants, Jan. 8, 2012 on FOX). Viewership for Seahawks-Vikings, which was the third-coldest NFL game on record with a kickoff temperature of minus-six degrees, peaked at 43.9 million viewers for the game's exciting finish from 3:45-4 p.m. ET.

The Seahawks-Vikings NFC Wild Card telecast (1:06-4:06 p.m. ET) earned a 21.0 rating/42 share, to rank as the highest-rated early Sunday Wild Card game in 21 years (22.0/48 for Patriots-Browns on NBC, 1/1/95). The 21.0/42 for Seahawks-Vikings is up 24% from last year's early Sunday Wild Card (17.0/35 for Bengals-Colts).

NBC's NFL playoff coverage continues this Saturday, Jan. 16, with the NFC Divisional Playoff, as the Green Bay Packers and Aaron Rodgers, who passed for 210 yards and two touchdowns in yesterday's victory at Washington, visit Carson Palmer and the second-seeded Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. NBC's Divisional Playoff coverage begins with a special edition of FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA at 7:30 p.m. ET.

DIGITAL: NBC Sports Live Extra's presentation of Seahawks-Vikings totaled 20.0 million live streaming minutes, ranking as Live Extra's most streamed NFL postseason game on record (excluding Super Bowls) and up 115% from last year's NBC Saturday primetime Wild Card game (9.3 million live minutes for Ravens-Steelers).

Top 10 Metered Markets for Seahawks-Vikings

1.	Minneapolis, 50.5/82
2.	Seattle, 50.4/87
3.	Buffalo, 31.0/49
4.	New Orleans, 30.7/48
5.	Milwaukee, 29.8/52
6.	Charlotte, 29.4/52
7.	Denver, 28.7/59
8.	Portland, 27.1/60
9.	Boston, 25.4/47
10.	Richmond, 25.2/43

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