NEW YORK (AP) – The AFC championship game drew a larger national TV audience than the NFC title game for just the third time.

CBS Sports’ broadcast of New England’s 24-14 win over Indianapolis on Sunday drew a national rating of 26.6 with a 46 share.

That’s the highest rating for an AFC championship game since Denver beat the Jets 23-10 in 1999.

The rating was 1 percent higher than last year’s matchup between Oakland and Tennessee, and 11 percent higher than 2002.

Carolina’s 14-3 win over Philadelphia on Fox Sports drew a 23.2 national rating and 35 share.

That rating is 3 percent lower than for last year’s game between Philadelphia and Tampa Bay.

The rating is the percentage of all homes with TVs, whether or not they are in use. Each rating point represents a little more than 1 million TV homes.

The share is the percentage of homes with sets in use.

AP-ES-01-20-04 1725EST