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3h ago

NFL Wild-Card Weekend Ratings Surge, Prime Sets Streaming Record as Fox Leads With 41 Million

Revised Nielsen methods alongside competitive games drove the reported surge.

Jan 12, 2026; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; NFL Wild Card logo on the field before the Pittsburgh Steelers host the Houston Texans in an AFC Wild Card Round game at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
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Jan 10, 2026; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bears wide receiver DJ Moore (2) makes the eventual game winning touchdown catch against the Green Bay Packers during the second half of an NFC Wild Card Round game at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images

Overview

  • Prime Video’s Bears–Packers telecast averaged 31.61 million viewers with a 34.16 million peak, the largest audience ever for an exclusively streamed NFL game.
  • Fox’s 49ers–Eagles drew 41 million viewers, the weekend’s biggest audience and the most-watched wild-card game on any network since 2022.
  • The five weekend games across Fox, CBS, Prime Video and NBC averaged 32.76 million viewers, up 16% versus the comparable windows last season.
  • CBS’s Bills–Jaguars averaged 32.71 million viewers, a record for the early Sunday wild-card window, while Fox’s Rams–Panthers drew about 28 million, the best Saturday afternoon wild-card audience since 2011.
  • Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel methodology and expanded out-of-home measurement lifted reported totals and complicate direct year-over-year comparisons.