Saturday's TV Ratings: NFL Rules Primetime, 'SNL' Holds Steady

Saturday's TV schedule was dominated by the NFL divisional playoff game between the New England Patriots and Tennessee Titans, even though it turned out to be a blow-out. Later, Saturday Night Live stayed steady compared to its previous episode.

The Patriots-Titans game averaged 24.23 million viewers for CBS, and a 7.1 rating in the 18-49 demographic, reports TV By The Numbers. Although the Patriots started slow against the Titans, the final score did not reflect that. Tom Brady led his team to a 35-14 victory. They will play the Jacksonville Jaguars in next weekend's AFC Championship Game, after the Jags stunned the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.

The game left the other three major broadcast networks in the dust.

ABC aired the 2006 animated film Flushed Away, which drew just 1.3 million viewers and a 1.8 18-49 rating. Fox's repeat of The Four: Battle for Stardom had just 1.06 million viewers and a 0.3 demo rating.

Over at NBC, a repeat of Will & Grace had a strong showing with 5.6 million viewers and a 1.8 demo rating. A Superstore rerun attracted 3.59 million viewers and a 1.1 18-49 rating. Dateline had 3.76 million viewers and a 0.9 18-49 rating. A vintage SNL episode drew 3.1 million viewers and a 0.9 rating in the demo.

As for the new Saturday Night Live, the show returned from a month-long hiatus with a 1.9 18-49 rating. The Sam Rockwell-hosted episode was only down a tenth from the Dec. 16 episode with Kevin Hart.

According to Deadline, the Rockwell episode also had a 4.6/10 overall Live+Same Day rating in metered markets.

Last night's SNL was a strong episode, featuring a blistering Morning Joe cold open that included Fred Armisen as Fire And Fury author Michael Wolff and Bill Murray as Steve Bannon. Leslie Jones also impressed audiences with her two appearances as Oprah Winfrey.

The show also included a parody of E! News' Golden Globes red carpet coverage. Rockwell also caused jaws to drop by accidentally saying the f-word on live television.