The outcome of the NFC championship game was a heartbreaker for the Chicago Bears and the team's huge fan base. But the game was a stunning success in the Nielsen overnight television ratings in the Chicago market.

The telecast of the game on Fox-owned WFLD-Channel 32 pulled a humongous 50.6 rating and an 81 share. That means 1,771,000 households in Chicago were tuned in to the game on Sunday. That huge 81 share also means more than four out of every five televisions turned on in Chicago while the game was in progress were tuned in to watch the Green Bay Packers defeat the Bears.

The giant ratings number for the Bears left the city's other major TV outlets with barely any audience for their counter-programming. Top-rated ABC-owned WLS-Channel 7 managed just a 0.5 rating (17,500 households) while the Bears game was in progress. Both CBS-owned WBBM-Channel 2 and NBC-owned WMAQ could do no better than a 0.4 rating each (14,000 households each).