NEW YORK—Another viewing record has come out of the NFL Divisional Playoff games this year, with CBS Sports reporting that the NFL ON CBS presentation of the Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills game on Jan. 21 was the most-watched NFL Divisional Playoff Game ever and the first to surpass 50 million viewers, averaging 50.393 million viewers.
That was up +10% vs. last year's comparable window (Cowboys-49ers, 45.659 million). The previous record was 48.522 million viewers for Cowboys-Packers on Jan. 15, 2017.
ESPN previously reported that its ESPN’s NFL Divisional Playoff presentation of the Houston Texans versus the Baltimore Ravens on January 20 pulled in a record 31.8 million viewers, making it ESPN's most watched NFL game ever.
CBS also noted that Kansas City's 27-24 victory is the most-watched program on any network since Super Bowl LVII (Feb. 12, 2023) and that Sunday's game peaked with more than 56 million viewers (56.250).
The game also boosted Paramount+ to its most-streamed live event ever.
The NFL ON CBS' record-setting Divisional Playoff Game follows CBS Sports' most-watched regular season since the NFL returned to CBS in 1998 and the most-streamed NFL season ever on Paramount+.
