By David Bauder, Television Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --Lopsided contests to determine Super Bowl participants didn't prevent each of the NFL conference championship games from reaching more than 45 million television viewers on Sunday.
The Nielsen company said that 47.95 million people watched the New England Patriots beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC conference game. Earlier in the day, the Atlanta Falcons' victory over the Green Bay Packers in the NFC contest was seen by 46.28 million viewers.
Neither game was particularly competitive; the Falcons had a 24-0 lead at halftime. Still, that game's audience was bigger than last year's NFC game (45.7 million), perhaps because the Packers are one of the league's marquee teams.
The Patriots and Steelers have more Super Bowl appearances than any other AFC teams. But with New England dominating, the game had a smaller audience than the 2016 game between New England and Denver, which drew 53.3 million viewers, Nielsen said.
The football boosted CBS to an easy win in prime time, averaging 13.3 million viewers for the week. NBC had 4.6 million, ABC had 4.1 million, Fox had 3 million, Univision had 2 million, Telemundo had 1.6 million, ION Television had 1.3 million and the CW had 920,000.
On inauguration week, Fox News Channel dominated the cable ratings, averaging 3.8 million viewers in prime-time. CNN had 1.73 million, HGTV had 1.62 million, USA had 1.56 million and TBS had 1.41 million.
NBC's "Nightly News" topped the evening newscasts with an average of 9.4 million viewers. ABC's "World News Tonight" was second with 9.1 million and the "CBS Evening News" had 7.5 million viewers.
Below are primetime viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for Jan. 16-22. Listings include the week's ranking and viewership.
1. AFC Championship: Pittsburgh at New England, CBS, 47.95 million.
2. "Championship Post-Game," CBS, 22.66 million.
3. "NCIS," CBS, 15.5 million.
4. "The Big Bang Theory," CBS, 15.16 million.
5. "Hunted," CBS, 11.85 million.
6. "Bull," CBS, 11.11 million.
7. "Blue Bloods," CBS, 9.77 million.
8. "This is Us," NBC, 9.59 million.
9. "NCIS: New Orleans," CBS, 9.33 million.
10. "Kevin Can Wait," CBS, 8.67 million.
11. "Mom," CBS, 8.57 million.
12. "Hawaii Five-0," CBS, 8.41 million.
13. "The Great Indoors," CBS, 7.809 million.
14. "Scorpion," CBS, 7.807 million.
15. "Man With a Plan," CBS, 7.7 million.
16. "Chicago Fire," NBC, 7.15 million.
17. "The Bachelor," ABC, 7.13 million.
18. "Chicago PD," NBC, 7.11 million.
19. "The O'Reilly Factor" (Friday), Fox News, 7.09 million.
20. "Tucker Carlson Tonight" (Friday), Fox News, 7.02 million.
“Heretic” and “Maria” Set As Red Carpet Premieres At AFI Fest
The American Film Institute (AFI) has announced that Heretic, the psychological thriller starring Hugh Grant, and Maria, based on the life of opera singer Maria Callas starring Angelina Jolie, will round out the Red Carpet Premieres section at this year’s AFI Fest. The Heretic Gala Screening will take place on Thursday, October 24, and the Maria Gala Screening will be held on Saturday, October 26. The complete Red Carpet Premieres section includes the world premieres of Music By John Williams, Robert Zemeckis’ Here, Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl and Clint Eastwood’s Juror #2. All Red Carpet Premieres will take place at the historic TCL Chinese Theatre. The full lineup for AFI Fest 2024 will be unveiled on October 1.
“At the heart of AFI Fest is an unwavering dedication to celebrating the best in global cinema--together,” said Bob Gazzale, AFI president and CEO. “We look forward to uniting artists and audiences once again to be inspired by the art form in a powerful sense of community.”
Heretic follows two young missionaries (Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East) who are forced to prove their faith when they knock on the wrong door and are greeted by a diabolical Mr. Reed (portrayed by Grant), becoming ensnared in his deadly game of cat-and-mouse. The film is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods and produced by Stacey Sher, Beck, Woods, Julia Glausi and Jeanette Volturno. The film will be released nationwide by A24 on November 8.
Directed by Pablo Larraín, Maria presents a tumultuous and beautiful depiction of one of the world’s most renowned artists and reimagines the legendary soprano in her final days in Paris, as Callas (Jolie)... Read More