Particle.news
Download on the App Store

NFL Wild Card Ratings Surge as Prime Video Sets Streaming Record and Fox Leads Weekend

Close finishes plus revised Nielsen counting drove decade-high Wild Card averages.

Overview

  • Amazon’s exclusive BearsPackers stream averaged 31.61 million viewers and peaked at 34.16 million, the largest audience ever for an NFL game on a streaming service.
  • Fox’s late Sunday 49ers–Eagles broadcast averaged about 41 million viewers and peaked at 47.76 million, the biggest game of the weekend and Fox’s largest Wild Card audience since 2015.
  • With ESPN/ABC’s Monday TexansSteelers game at 29.1 million, the Wild Card round averaged 32.0 million viewers across six games, up 13% year over year and the highest in a decade.
  • Nielsen’s newer Big Data + Panel methodology and expanded out‑of‑home measurement boosted reported totals and complicate direct comparisons to prior seasons.
  • The playoffs shift to the divisional round on traditional TV, including an uncommon 5:30 p.m. Sunday window on NBC for Rams–Bears, while Prime Video does not carry divisional games.