National NFL Numbers Not the Whole Story

As usual, the broadcast of the NFL playoffs on NBC, CBS and Fox over the past month have generated huge national household ratings. The NFC championship game last Sunday between the New York Giants and the San Francisco 49ers pulled a 30.6 Nielsen household rating. But the national numbers are literally only half the story in many cases, according to an analysis by TVB, which encourages advertisers to seek opportunities at the station level. In the home markets of teams in the games, the local household rating was often twice as big or more.