For just the second time in the past decade, viewership for the Super Bowl could not match the previous year.
Sunday’s Broncos/Panthers Super Bowl 50 earned a 46.6 final rating and 111.9 million viewers on CBS, down 2% in ratings and viewership from Patriots/Seahawks on NBC last year (47.5, 114.4M) and down a fraction of a percent in both measures from Seahawks/Broncos on FOX in 2014 (46.7, 112.2M).
The Broncos’ coronation ranks as the least-watched Super Bowl since Ravens/49ers in 2013 (108.7M), which is also the only other Super Bowl over the past decade to have a decline in viewership. Both games, it should be noted, aired on CBS. Including Ravens/Giants in 2001 (-5%), CBS has aired three of the four Super Bowls since 2000 to have a viewership decline.
Despite the rare drop, Super Bowl 50 still ranks as the third-most watched program in U.S. television history. The past seven Super Bowl broadcasts rank as the seven most-watched all-time, with the 1983 series finale of M*A*S*H ranking eighth (106.0M).
The 46.6 rating is also the fourth-highest for any television program in more than 20 years, since coverage of the 1994 Winter Olympics drew a 48.5 rating on CBS.
Sunday’s game peaked with 115.5 million viewers from 8:30-9 PM ET, the half-hour including the Beyonce and Bruno Mars halftime show headlined by Coldplay. Last year’s peak half-hour took place later in the night, as 119.2 million watched the Patriots and Seahawks go down to the wire from 9:30-10 PM ET. This year’s game was not as close.
Viewership figures do not include the Spanish-language broadcast on ESPN Deportes (472K) or the livestream coverage on CBS and NFL digital outlets (1.4M per minute).
(Sun. numbers from CBS Sports, Programming Insider)
