CBS' Baltimore Ravens-Denver Broncos wins big TV rating

Baltimore and Denver aren't particularly big TV markets. But the Baltimore Ravens' double-overtime win against the Denver Broncos on Saturday got boffo TV box office:

It drew the highest rating in 19 years for an AFC Saturday divisional NFL playoff game.

The game's preliminary national rating was 20.1% of U.S. TV households.

That's up 9% from last year's Saturday AFC divisional game, Denver-New England Patriots, which had a better time slot as it was shown in primetime.

The ratings' boost is somewhat predictable as overtime action, in any sport, generally helps ratings. The game's rating peaked at 24% between 8 p.m. ET and 8:30 p.m. ET.

And CBS' 20.1% was the highest Saturday AFC divisional game since NBC drew 22% for Los Angeles Raiders-Buffalo Bills in 1994.

In averaging 35.3 million viewers, Baltimore-Denver was the most-watched AFC Saturday divisional game on CBS' records, which date to 1987. But given that the U.S. population is always increasing, each year there are more available viewers.