Brett Favre's influence on television viewers was evident again Sunday as the Vikings' 34-3 victory over the Dallas Cowboys in an NFC divisional playoff game provided some impressive ratings for Fox.

Locally, the game had an extremely impressive 48.4 rating and 82 share on local Fox affiliate KMSP (Ch. 9). That was Fox's best metered-market rating in the country. New Orleans was No. 2 with a 41.4 rating and 61 share and Dallas was No. 3 with a 40.4 rating and 71 share.

The overnight rating for the game -- a figure that is generated from the 50-plus metered markets in the country -- was 23.9 with a 46 share. That is a 14 percent increase over last year's 20.9/41 for the Giants-Eagles divisional playoff game on Fox.

Sunday's figure ranks as the highest-rated divisional rating on any network since the 25.8/43 for the Giants-Cowboys game in 2008, and is the best NFL divisional rating in the early window on any network since the 25.8/47 for the Cowboys-Eagles game in 1996 on Fox.

The Vikings-Cowboys also managed to outrate CBS' coverage of the Jets' victory over San Diego (23.1/39) by 3 percent. It's the first time that an early Sunday divisional game has outrated the late game in 10 years.

The rating is the percentage of the total population of televisions tuned to a particular prorgram; share is the percentage of televisions actually in use.