Bears-Packers TV rating best since 1995
While five touchdown passes by Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers may have forced many Chicago fans to turn off the game, the Sunday night contest still scored its highest primetime rating for a Christmas game since 1995.
The Packers secured home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs with their dominating 35-21 victory over the Bears at Lambeau Field on Christmas night. Last night’s game also earned a 12.6 overnight rating and a 25 share, according to overnight data released Monday by The Nielsen Company.
The Bears-Packers contest, the only NFL game of the day, produced the highest overnight rating for a game played on Christmas night since the Dallas Cowboys played Arizona Cardinals in 1995 and earned a 14.0/28 rating on ABC. The 12.6 for last night’s game was 1 percent higher than the last game played on Christmas night (Eagles-Cowboys, 12.5/29 on Christmas 2006 on NBC), and 19 percent higher than the Christmas night game in 2000 (Cowboys-Titans, 10.6/21 on ABC).
Last year’s Week 16 game (Vikings-Eagles, 15.2/24) was an anomaly, was played on a Tuesday night due to a snow postponement.
Total viewership numbers will be released Wednesday.
Top 10 metered markets for Bears-Packers:
City, rating/share
1. Milwaukee, 45.8/73
2. Chicago, 29.2/55
3. New Orleans, 20.7/32
4. Las Vegas, 18.5/33
5. Minneapolis, 17.9/37
6. Nashville, 17.3/28
7. Albuquerque, 16.6/29
8. Greenville/Spartanburg, 15.5/25
9. Norfolk, 14.8/26
10. Richmond, 14.7/25
Source: NBC