The greatest comeback in Super Bowl history could not overcome a slow start.
Super Bowl 51 between the Patriots and Falcons had a 45.3 final rating and 111.3 million viewers on FOX Sunday evening, down 3% in ratings and a fraction of a percent in viewership from Broncos/Panthers on CBS last year (46.6, 111.9M) and down 5% and 3% respectively from Patriots/Seahawks on NBC in 2015 (47.5, 114.4M).
Compared to the previous Super Bowl on FOX, Seahawks/Broncos in 2014, ratings fell 3% from a 46.7 and viewership 1% from 112.2 million.
The Patriots’ win marked the lowest rated Super Bowl TV broadcast since Saints/Colts in 2010 (45.0) and the least-watched since Ravens/49ers in 2013 (108.7M), both of which aired on CBS.
Super Bowl ratings and viewership have now declined in consecutive years, the first such occurrence since 1988 and 1995 respectively. The seven-year ratings low was the longest for the game since the Falcons’ previous appearance against the Broncos in 1999, which hit a nine-year low.
Figures do not include the 1.7 million who streamed coverage on Fox Sports GO, up 23% from last year (1.4M) and up 75% from 2015 (973K). Nor do they include the Spanish-language audience of 650,000 on Fox Deportes, up 38% from last year on ESPN Deportes (472K), up 77% from 2015 on NBC Universo (368K) and a record for a non-soccer program on a Spanish cable network. With those numbers included, the game had 113.7 million — on par with last year but still no match for 2015 (115.8M).
That total will rise even higher later in the year, when Nielsen begins releasing out-of-home data. While Nielsen is not set to do so until April, the data will be retroactive to September of last year, a stretch that obviously includes Sunday’s game.
Atlanta led by as many as 25 points and by 19 entering the fourth before New England mounted the largest comeback in Super Bowl history and won in the game’s first-ever overtime. There was not enough publicly disclosed data Monday to determine how much of an impact the early blowout had on the numbers. It may have been the case that the numbers were low from the start. What is clear is that the Patriots’ late charge saved FOX from even steeper declines. Viewership peaked at 117.7 million from 10-10:15 PM ET, not only surpassing last year’s peak of 115.5 million but up 29% from kickoff — record in-game growth for the Super Bowl.
The halftime show delivered 117.5 million from 8-8:15 PM, up 2% from last year (115.5M) but down 3% from 2015 (120.7M).
The Super Bowl concluded a much-discussed down year for the NFL. While the regular season declines generated most of the headlines, nine of 11 playoff games posted declines in ratings and/or viewership.
(Sun. numbers from Fox Sports)
