For the second time in four years, the Super Bowl audience has been revised upward after the fact.
Nielsen said Thursday that the final metrics for the February 8 Seahawks-Patriots Super Bowl 60 have been revised upward to a 39.7 rating and 125.6 million viewers across NBC, Telemundo, Peacock and additional streaming platforms — up from the 39.4 and 124.9 million that were originally reported. The measurement company said the revision is because “a Big Data provider did not properly collect data from its devices on February 8, which impacted the Big Data + Panel count.”
There is plenty of precedent for Nielsen adjusting figures after the fact, and just three years ago the company had to revise its Super Bowl estimates after erroneously allocating some of the FOX audience to NFL Network. The difference is that prior to the introduction of “Big Data + Panel” last fall, any revisions would have been the result of factors under the company’s own control. But as “Big Data + Panel” relies on third-party data, it is now possible for other companies’ miscues to impact the data.
Earlier in the NFL season, an “internal issue” at YouTube resulted in an undercount of the streamer’s exclusive Week 1 NFL audience from Brazil.
The revisions do not meaningfully change how the game ranks historically. The Seahawks’ win still dipped from last year’s Eagles-Chiefs Super Bowl on FOX (41.7, 127.1M), with ratings now down 5% (not 6%) and viewership now down 1% (not 2%). It still officially ranks as the second-most watched Super Bowl — and U.S. television program — on record, behind only last year (with all the same caveats regarding Nielsen methodological changes that have been noted on this site). And it still ranks as the third-lowest rated Super Bowl since 1990.
While the Super Bowl was obviously the highest-profile event of the day, the error would have almost certainly impacted all other programming — including the Winter Olympics broadcast that led out of the game. Nielsen did not disclose any revised figures beyond the Super Bowl, or detail any revised data for the game beyond its overall average (meaning no revised figure for the much-discussed halftime show).
