The NFL playoffs have historically been highly watched television programs.
The opening weekend of the playoffs consisted of six wild card games.
The six games averaged 28.4 million viewers, down from the previous year's average of 29.65 million viewers.
Only two of the six games saw an increase in year-over-year viewership.
The teams playing in the wild card games had already faced each other during the regular season.
The most watched game was the Sunday afternoon matchup between the New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings, which averaged 33.2 million viewers.
However, this was the third lowest viewership for a late Sunday afternoon game in the past 14 years.
The viewership for this game was also 20% lower compared to the previous year's late Sunday afternoon audience.
The second most watched game was the Monday Night matchup between the Dallas Cowboys and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, led by Tom Brady.
This game was available on several networks and averaged 31.2 million viewers, marking a 36% increase from the previous year's Monday night contest.