Good morning. This is LEADOFF, today’s early look inside Atlanta sports.
The much-documented decline in NFL television ratings was reflected in the Atlanta market for the Falcons' playoff game against Philadelphia.
The Falcons-Eagles NFC Divisional playoff game Saturday posted a 29.3 rating in the Atlanta TV market, down from a 35.0 rating here for the Falcons' game against Seattle in the same round and same time slot of the playoffs one year ago.
That ratings difference means about 138,000 fewer homes in the Atlanta market watched Saturday’s game than watched the Falcons-Seahawks game a year earlier -- about 707,000 homes vs. about 845,000.
Nationally, across the 56 metered markets, last weekend’s four playoff games were the NFL’s lowest-rated Divisional round since 2009, according to SportsBusiness Daily.
But Minnesota’s miraculous win over New Orleans certainly captivated TV audiences in those two markets: The game averaged a 55.5 rating in the Minneapolis market and 57.3 in New Orleans.
The rating represents the percentage of TV households watching a program on average.
Nationally, 46.1 million people watched the end of the Vikings-Saints game, according to the NFL.
ATL RATINGS
Here’s a look at the ratings generated in the Atlanta TV market by several big college and pro football games recently:
Georgia vs. Alabama in College Football Playoff national championship game: 47.8
Georgia vs. Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl: 33.7
Falcons-Eagles playoff game: 29.3
Falcons-Rams playoff game: 29.0
DON’T MISS ...
Ken Sugiura examines what's in Georgia Tech's new deal with Adidas. See his story here.
Mark Bradley writes that the failure of the Falcons' season was a failure of coaching. See his column here.
Jeff Schultz assesses Roquan Smith's decision to leave UGA for the NFL draft. See his blog here.
