49ers-Packers game draws massive audience

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick (7) talks to Green Bay Packers defensive end Mike Daniels (76) after an NFL wild-card playoff football game, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2014, in Green Bay, Wis. The 49ers won 23-20. (AP Photo/Mike Roemer) Credit: AP Photo Mike Roemer
Sunday night's 49ers-Packers game at frigid Lambeau Field averaged 47.1 million viewers, which Fox said was the largest audience for a wild-card playoff round at least since 1988, the farthest back its records could document.
In Milwaukee, 58 percent of homes watched the game, including 80 percent of those with a television in use. In San Francisco, the figures were 40 and 74.
From 7:30 to 7:51 p.m. Eastern Time, the audience ballooned to 53.4 million.
The 47.1 million was far more viewers than the most-watched non-sports program of 2013, the Academy Awards, which averaged 40.3 million.
CBS drew an average audience of 30.9 million for the Chargers-Bengals game earlier Sunday, the best in 19 years for the early Sunday game on wild-card weekend.
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