Super Bowl bonanza for Fox

The folks at Fox Sports and the NFL are all smiles today. The New England Patriots knocked off the San Diego Chargers, making this year's Super Bowl telecast a ratings slam-dunk for the league, the network and its advertisers.

On top of that, Fox's telecast of the New York Giants-Green Bay Packers NFC title tilt Sunday pulled in the biggest number for a conference  championship game since 1996.

With the Patriots in pursuit of the first perfect season since the 1972 Miami Dolphins, their win Sunday was essential to a Super Bowl bonanza for Fox. It didn't matter who they played in the big game: The red-hot Giants representing the No. 1 media market in the U.S., or the Packers with the much-beloved Brett Favre seeking championship glory for perhaps the last time.

Now that the Giants have made it, you just have to go back to the final week of the regular season to realize the New Yorkers have a shot against the Pats, despite the early 14-point line. New England's come-from-behind 38-35 win against the Giants was easily their toughest battle thus far in their quest for perfection. The Giants, meanwhile, are playing their best football of the year and based on their Week 16 performance have no fear of the mighty AFC champs. All of this adds up to huge numbers for the Feb. 3 broadcast.

The Giants' 23-20 overtime victory Sunday scored a 31.7 rating/46 share in the overnight numbers, up 21% from last year's NFC title game between the Chicago Bears and New Orleans Saints. It was also the highest-rated network broadcast since last year's Super Bowl between the Bears and the Indianapolis Colts.

Meanwhile, New England's 21-12 victory over the Chargers on CBS did a 27.4/48, down 2% from last year's championship game between the Patriots and Colts.

Comments

[Chris]

this is no surprise, the NY market and Favre story line brings in lots of viewers, plus it was a great game.

[Sports Couch Potato]

It's no surprise, Chris, but the Chargers would have diluted the numbers.