KC Chiefs' AFC Championship Game vs. Ravens Sets Viewership Record

For the third week in a row, a Chiefs playoff game draws in some sort of record-setting audience.

The Kansas City Chiefs have enjoyed quite the postseason run, and it looks like America has been watching closely. 

On Wild Card Weekend, Kansas City's win over the Miami Dolphins set a record for a live-streamed event on Peacock. Just a week later, the club's outing against the Buffalo Bills set an all-time record for viewership of a Divisional Round broadcast. That contest was held on CBS, followed up by Sunday's AFC Championship Game against the Baltimore Ravens on the same network.

For the second weekend in a row, CBS was able to stake claim to a record audience tuning in for a Chiefs game. This time, it's a new conference title game bar being set by Patrick Mahomes on Kansas City's side and Lamar Jackson on Baltimore's. 

Per a release from Paramount, Chiefs vs. Ravens averaged just under 55.5 million viewers in the early window. That record clocked in at roughly 600,000 more viewers than the previous record — a New York Jets-Pittsburgh Steelers bout back in 2011. The NFL ON CBS program peaked with over 64 million viewers and was CBS' most-watched non-Super Bowl program since the 1994 Winter Olympics. Here's more from Paramount:

The NFL ON CBS led all networks during the postseason averaging 45.607 million viewers, the Network’s best postseason viewership since the NFL returned to CBS in 1998 and up +12% vs. last year. This follows CBS Sports’ most-watched regular season since 1998.

Compared to last year's early-window broadcast on CBS, the San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles, viewership increased by 17%. Overall, postseason viewership for CBS increased 12% in 2024 compared to 2023. 

It's been quite the month for CBS, and the wins won't stop there. In less than a couple of weeks, these same Chiefs will take the field against the 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII. CBS gets to broadcast that, too, which sets the table for millions of additional viewers to tune in. While upping last year's record average will be difficult, so was getting to this point. 

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