Ratings for the 2022 AFC & NFC Championship Games

While we await the ratings for Super Bowl LVI, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the numbers from the 2 conference championship games from 2 weeks ago. To begin, 2022 marked the third straight year of the NFC game beating the AFC game (2020, 2021, 2022) in total viewership after the AFC game dominated the previous four years (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019). Detailed breakdowns are provided for each game below: 

AFC Championship - Cincinnati Bengals vs. Kansas City Chiefs:

The 'AFC Championship' game aired in the afternoon slot, so there is not as much data available as there is for the NFC game, but we'll look at what's available. The game scored a 47.851 million viewers and a 12.41 adults 18-49 rating (16.188 million in the demo), the best performance in either metric since the 2019 game when it had 53.9 million viewers & a 16.26 P18-49 rating.

In local markets, Cincinnati had a 46.4 rating/81 share, while Kansas City had a 54.2/88. The Kansas City figure is notable down heavily from last year's huge 61.9/85 and is, locally, the lowest-rated of the last four championship games (all of which featured the Chiefs). The 55.7 rating from the 2020 game is the second-lowest.

Additional available ratings:

-23.62 HH rating

-9.06 P18-34 rating

-15.21 P25-54 rating

NFC Championship - San Francisco 49ers vs. Los Angeles Rams:

The 'NFC Championship' game aired in the primetime slot this year, so we have a plethora of available data on it. The game registered 50.225 million viewers which was the highest for an NFC Championship game since 2014 (51.3 million). It also managed a 14.20 adults 18-49 rating/70 share (18.53 million in the demo) which was the highest since 2016 (15.71/42).

In local markets, San Francisco had a 35.6/77, down a decent chunk from the 48.2 rating the city pulled in 49ers championship appearance 2 years ago. Los Angeles had a 28.7/64.

Additional available ratings:

-23.35/48 HH rating/share

-10.32/77 P18-34

-17.28/67 P25-54

-8.10/66 W18-34

-12.52/85 M18-34

-11.05/59 W18-49

-17.39/79 M18-49

-13.34/56 W25-54

-21.22/76 M25-54

-9.33/75 P12-34

-6.52/68 T12-17

-4.83/60 F12-17

-8.14/73 M12-17

Source: Nielsen Media Research