FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, January 12th, 2021

NBC’S BROWNS-STEELERS SUNDAY NFL WILD CARD GAME IS MOST-WATCHED PRIMETIME SHOW SINCE SUPER BOWL SUNDAY

Tampa Bay-Washington Game on NBC Delivers Largest Saturday Primetime Audience on any Network Since 2019 NFL Divisional Playoffs 

Peacock, NBC Sports Digital, NFL Digital & Verizon Media Mobile Properties Register Average Minute Audience (AMA) of 1.04 Million Viewers for Browns-Steelers – Setting NBC Sports Digital Record for NFL Game, Excluding Super Bowls

STAMFORD, Conn. – Jan. 12, 2021 – NBC Sports’ presentation of a pair of NFL Super Wild Card Weekend games delivered two of primetime television’s three largest audiences since last February (based on data available through Sun., Jan. 10).

Sunday Night (Cleveland-Pittsburgh)

Despite Cleveland’s one-sided, 28-0 first-quarter start – which matched a half-century old playoff record (Raiders 28-0 over Oilers, Dec. 21, 1969) – Sunday night’s Browns-Steelers game averaged a Total Audience Delivery of 26.0 million viewers across NBC TV, Telemundo, Peacock, NBC Sports Digital and NFL Digital platforms, and Verizon Media mobile properties, according to official data released today by Nielsen, and digital data from Adobe Analytics.

The NBC audience of 24.8 million viewers ranks as television’s most-watched primetime show since Super Bowl Sunday last February 2. Viewership on NBC peaked at 27.6 million viewers from 9:15-9:30 p.m. ET, in the second quarter. Sunday night’s game (8:16 p.m.-11:20 p.m. ET), which Baker Mayfield-led Cleveland won 48-37, registered a national TV household rating of 13.4/28.

Browns-Steelers, which marked the first-ever live NFL game on NBCUniversal’s Peacock streaming platform, delivered an Average Minute Audience (AMA) of 1.04 million viewers across Peacock, NBC Sports digital platforms, NFL digital platforms, Browns and Steelers mobile properties, and Verizon Media mobile properties – ranking as the most streamed NBC NFL game ever, excluding Super Bowls.

Top Metered Markets for Browns-Steelers (based on 44 markets available):

1. Cleveland 51.5/74
2. Pittsburgh 39.9/59
3. Columbus 30.6/51
4. Kansas City 24.1/41
5. Cincinnati 23.4/41
6. Baltimore 22.5/39
7. Milwaukee 21.0/38
8. San Diego 19.7/36
9. Washington, D.C. 18.4/34
10. Nashville 18.1/29

 

Saturday Night (Tampa Bay-Washington)

Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ 31-23 Wild Card win over a Washington Football Team led by unheralded quarterback Taylor Heinicke registered a TAD of 22.2 million on Saturday night.

Tampa Bay-Washington averaged 21.4 million viewers on NBC to rank as the most-watched Saturday primetime show on any network since the Titans-Ravens 2019 AFC Divisional Playoff (1/11/20 on CBS). Saturday night’s game (8:15 p.m.-11:34 p.m. ET) registered a national TV household rating of 11.5/25.

Top Metered Markets for Bucs-WFT (based on 56 markets):

1. Washington, D.C. 26.8/48
2. Tampa-St. Petersburg 26.7/47
3. New Orleans 24.5/35
4. Providence 21.5/39
5. Richmond 21.3/37
6. Fort Myers 20.2/36
7. Norfolk 19.9/36
8. Boston 19.6/37
9. Pittsburgh 18.8/32
10. Buffalo 18.4/32

 

This Saturday night, Jan. 16 on NBC, 2019 NFL MVP Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens (12-5) visit 2020 NFL MVP candidate Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills (14-3) in an AFC Divisional Playoff Game. Coverage begins at 7:30 p.m. ET with a special edition of Football Night in America.

–NBC SPORTS–