Once again Brett Favre turned out to be Solid Gold for the TV networks, as the NFC Championship game produced the most-watched program in the history of the FOX network.
The overnight ratings for the New Orleans Saints 31-28 overtime win over Favre and the Vikings produced a 30.6 rating with 57.9 million viewers. It is the second-most viewed Conference Championship game in NFL history, behind only the 1982 Dallas/San Francisco game which featured The Catch. That contest had 68.7 million viewers.
The NFC Championship Game drew almost twice as many viewers as the Texas-Alabama BCS Championship contest.
Excluding Super Bowls, this game is the most-viewed television program on any network since the series finale of Seinfeld pulled in over 76 million viewers.
The AFC Championship game, shown in the early afternoon timeslot, was also a ratings winner.
The Colts 30-17 win over the Jets had 46.9 million viewers for CBS -- the most for an AFC title game since 1984.
Excluding the Super Bowl, the Colts/Jets game ranks as the most-viewed NFL telecast on CBS since the network reacquired rights to the league in 1998. The last AFC game to have a larger audience was the 1984 Patriots/Dolphins contest, which drew 47.5 million viewers.