Wild-card weekend ended with a close game that quickly got out of hand in the fourth quarter. The 30-6 outcome didn’t impact viewership.
ESPN has announced that 29.1 million viewers, on average, watched the multi-network Texans-Steelers simulcast on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, and Deportes. It’s a 15-percent increase over last year’s lopsided wild-card game between the Vikings and Rams.
The audience peaked between 9:00 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. ET, at 33 million.
The Texans led the game, 7-6, entering the fourth quarter. The dam broke in the final 15 minutes.
The total number matched the January 2024 Monday night wild-card game between the Eagles and Buccaneers.
ESPN didn’t, and usually doesn’t, announce the viewership for the ManningCast, which has struggled to siphon eyeballs from the main broadcast in the years since ESPN broke the bank to hire Joe Buck and Troy Aikman from Fox. And for good reason; people who want to watch the game are far more inclined to, you know, watch the game — not a live podcast that often treats the game as background noise.
