Super Bowl ratings hit the 40 mark for the first time in three years.
Sunday’s Super Bowl 57 (Chiefs-Eagles) averaged a 40.0 rating and 113.06 million viewers across FOX (112.7M) and Fox Deportes (882K), marking the highest rated Super Bowl in three years (Chiefs-49ers: 41.6) and the most-watched in six (Patriots-Falcons: 113.7).*
Ratings increased 8% from last year’s 36.9, the lowest for a Super Bowl since 1969. A direct viewership comparison is complicated by the difference in how streaming viewership was handled this year and last. (For Super Bowl ratings and viewership all-time, see the following link.)
FOX averaged a streaming audience of 7.0 million viewers, a record for the Super Bowl and up 18% from the previous mark set last year (6.0M). It should be noted that unlike last year, when NBC reported a streaming audience of 11.2 million viewers across 6.0 million devices, this year’s estimates do not include co-viewing.
The increase in streaming viewership made up for a shortfall in Spanish-language viewing. This year’s game averaged 882,000 on Fox Deportes, down about a million viewers from last year on Telemundo (1.9M), but nonetheless the second-largest audience ever for a Spanish-language Super Bowl simulcast (dates back to 2014).
Kansas City led all markets for Sunday’s game with a 52.0 rating and whopping 87 share, meaning that 87% of homes with televisions in use were tuned to the game in the average minute. Philadelphia ranked second at a 46.3/77, followed by Cincinnati (45.9/77) and Detroit (43.4/74). Pittsburgh rounded out the top five at a 43.0/73.
Beyond the game itself, the halftime performance by Rihanna averaged 118.7 million in the fast-nationals, which Fox says is the highest for a halftime show since 2015.
As noted in a previous post, out-of-home viewing has provided a major lift to Super Bowl viewership the past two years, accounting for 22% of the linear audience last year. This year’s game averaged nearly 24 million out-of-home viewers, with more details on that breakdown available here.
The Super Bowl averaged a 33.8 rating in adults 18-49, up 15% from last year (29.5) and the highest since 2016 (37.1). Ratings also increased in adults 18-34 (28.8, +20%) and 25-54 (37.9, +13%).
* From 2018-20, out-of-home viewing was measured separately and not included in the official Nielsen averages. Including out-of-home, the Chiefs-49ers Super Bowl three years ago averaged 113.4 million and the Eagles-Patriots Super Bowl five years ago averaged 118.2 million.
(Nielsen estimates from Fox Sports, ShowBuzz Daily 2.14)
