The Super Bowl delivered its smallest audience among adults 18-49 in at least ten years.
Super Bowl 51 between the Patriots and Falcons delivered a 37.1 rating and 47.6 million viewers in the adults 18-49 demographic, down 2% in ratings and a fraction of a percent in viewership from Broncos/Panthers last year (37.7, 47.9M) and down 5% and 4% respectively from Patriots/Seahawks in 2015 (39.1, 49.7M).
It was the lowest rated Super Bowl in the demo since Steelers/Cardinals in 2009 (36.7) and the least-watched in at least a decade.
Since hitting 52.5 million in 2011, Super Bowl viewership among adults 18-49 has declined for six straight years. Ratings in the demo have declined for five straight after hitting a 40.5 in 2012.
This year, adults 18-49 made up just 42.77% of the audience for the primary TV broadcast (111.3M) — down from 42.78% last year and the smallest percentage in at least a decade. The demo accounted for more than 50% of the audience back in 2008, but its proportion has declined in each year since.
It is possible that some of those viewers have shifted to streaming, as the digital Super Bowl audience has risen each year since the game was first streamed in 2012. It is also possible that some viewers have simply aged out of the demo and were not replaced in sufficient numbers by those aging in. Whether those explanations can fully account for the loss of 4.9 million viewers in six years remains to be seen.
In adults 18-34, Sunday’s game had a 32.9 rating — down 1% from last year (33.3) and down 8% from 2015 (35.8). The corresponding viewership figure was not available.
