The television audiences for the NFL playoffs and last Sunday's conference championship games are the highest on record going back to 1988.
According to the league and Nielsen, the first three weekends of the postseason averaged 38.5 million viewers on television and digital platforms, a 9% increase over last year.
The Kansas City Chiefs' 17-10 win over the Baltimore Ravens averaged 55.47 million on CBS, making it the most-watched AFC championship game ever. The previous mark was 54.85 million when the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the New York Jets to advance to the Super Bowl in the 2010 season.
The audience peaked at 64.02 million. It was also CBS' most-watched non-Super Bowl program since the 1994 Winter Olympics in primetime on Feb. 25, 1994.
The San Francisco 49ers' 34-31 comeback victory over the Detroit Lions on Fox averaged 56.69 million, the most-watched NFC championship game since 2012. It is also the fourth-watched non-Super Bowl telecast in network history.
It peaked at 58.97 million during the fourth quarter.
The 56.1 million average for the conference championships is an 11% jump over last year.
CBS, which has the Super Bowl on Feb. 11, is averaging 45.61 million for its postseason games. It is the network's highest average since the NFL returned to the network in 1998 and a 12% increase from last year.
SMPTE elects board officers, regional governors
SMPTE®,the home of media professionals, technologists, and engineers, has revealed the board officers and regional governors who will serve terms beginning in January 2025.
Three new officers--Richard Welsh as SMPTE president, Eric Gsell as SMPTE executive VP, and Polly Hickling as SMPTE Education VP--have been elected for a two-year term from Jan. 1, 2025, to Dec. 31, 2026. One SMPTE officer, Lisa Hobbs, will be continuing her service as SMPTE secretary and treasurer for another two-year term. Additionally, Raymond Yeung will be stepping into the role of standards VP on Jan. 1, 2025.
“SMPTE’s membership has spoken,” said SMPTE interim executive director Sally-Ann D’Amato. “These officers have been tasked with an important responsibility, one each of them is prepared to tackle head-on. These next two years are looking bright for SMPTE!”
In addition to the officers, 10 regional governors were elected by the Society to serve two-year 2025-2026 terms.
These include the following regional governors, re-elected to continue their service:
Asia-Pacific Region Governor
Tony Ngai, Society of Motion Imaging Ltd.
EMEA - Central & South America Region Governor
Fernando Bittencourt, FB Consultant
United Kingdom Region Governor
Chris Johns, Sky UK.
USA - Central Region Governor
William T. Hayes, Consultant
USA - Eastern Region Governor
Dover Jeanne Mundt, Riedel Communications
USA - Western Region Governor
Jeffrey F. Way, Open Drives
Also elected were four newcomers to the SMPTE Board:
Canada Region Governor
Jonathan Jobin, Grass Valley
USA - Hollywood Region Governor
Allan Schollnick, Voxx... Read More