Despite an overall increase in viewership, this year’s Super Bowl saw yet more erosion in the young demographics.
Sunday’s Super Bowl 54 on FOX averaged a 29.9 rating in adults 18-49, the lowest since at least 1992. The previous low was set last year (31.0), and the low before that was a 33.2 in 2005.
The 29.9 rating is equivalent to 38.67 million viewers — down 3% from last year on CBS (39.95M), down 10% from 2018 on NBC (43.00M), and the smallest audience since at least 2007.
As recently as 2011, the game attracted 52.48 million viewers in the demo. Viewership has declined in each subsequent year, with the game shedding at least one million demo viewers in four of the past five years.
Adults 18-49 made up just 39% of the FOX TV audience of 99.91 million, the smallest percentage since at least 2007. The demo accounted for 50% of the Super Bowl audience in 2008, but its share has dwindled in every subsequent year.
Ratings also declined in the other young demographics. The game averaged a 24.1 in adults 18-34, down 7% from last year (26.0) and down 16% from 2018 (28.6). It also averaged a 34.2 in adults 25-54, down just 1% from last year (34.6) and down 8% from 2018 (37.0).
The Super Bowl numbers are in keeping with a broader trend of declining Nielsen-measured viewing among young adults.
