Lions-Cowboys game averages 42.3 million viewers on Fox, 3rd-highest in NFL wild-card history

The Detroit-Dallas game Sunday averaged 42.3 million viewers on Fox, the third-highest total in NFL wild-card history.

The broadcast trailed only the San Francisco-Green Bay game last year on Fox at 47.1 million and the 2012 Pittsburgh-Denver game on CBS at 42.4 million, the NFL and Nielsen said Monday. The Lions-Cowboys game was the most-watched telecast since the Academy Awards averaged 43.6 million viewers on ABC in March.

The four wild-card games averaged 29.9 million viewers. The Cincinnati-Indianapolis averaged 28.3 million Sunday on CBS. On Saturday, the Baltimore-Pittsburgh game averaged 28.0 million on NBC and the Arizona-Carolina game 21.7 million on ESPN.

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Fox is owned by 21st Century Fox Inc.; CBS is a division of CBS Corp.; NBC is controlled by Comcast Corp.; ESPN is part of The Walt Disney Co.