Kansas City brings in huge TV ratings for Chiefs-Bills game despite odd kickoff time
Chiefs fans, did you like the happy hour start to the Bills game on Monday?
Many of you found a way to watch, according to the Nielsen ratings. The game recorded a 44.4 rating in Kansas City with a 74 share on Fox. That means three out of every four televisions on in the KC metro area at that time were tuned into the Chiefs game.
The numbers impressed Fox executive vice-president Michael Mulvihill, who tweeted, “That has to be the highest local rating for a weekday afternoon event in many, many years if not ever. Hard pressed to think of anything that might challenge it.”
Perhaps a Royals’ weekday afternoon game in the 2014 or 2015 American League Championship Series, or a first session NCAA Tournament game involving Kansas. Those are likely the only possibilities (We’re checking).
The figures for the Kansas City market compare to the season opener against the Houston Texans. That game on NBC did a 47.8 rating and 71 share in Kansas City. But it kicked off in prime time, at 7:20 p.m., on a Thursday.
A 4 p.m. kickoff time Monday should have blunted the viewing numbers. But that didn’t happen in Kansas City, especially with the Chiefs posting a 26-17 victory.
This story was originally published October 20, 2020 at 4:11 PM with the headline "Kansas City brings in huge TV ratings for Chiefs-Bills game despite odd kickoff time."