Recent sports TV ratings news, including a sixteen-year high for the Super Bowl among adults 18-49, the most-viewed Super Bowl halftime show ever, and a big increase for the Super Bowl lead-out program.
- Super Bowl Earns Highest Rating Among Adults 18-49 Since ’96: The Super Bowl did not set an all-time record in the advertiser-coveted adults 18-49 demographic, but the numbers were the best since the mid-1990s. Sunday’s Giants/Patriots Super Bowl earned a 40.5 rating among adults 18-49, up 2% from last year (GB/PIT: 39.9, FOX), and up 5% from 2010 (NO/IND: 38.6, CBS). The 40.5 rating is the highest in the adults 18-49 demographic since the 1996 Cowboys/Steelers Super Bowl (41.2, NBC).
- Halftime Show Sets Record: The Super Bowl Halftime Show, featuring the typical entertainment fare, earned a 47.4 fast-national rating and 114 million viewers from 8-8:30 PM ET, up 6% in ratings and 3% in viewership from last year (44.7, 110.3M, FOX), and the highest rated and most-viewed halftime show since the NFL began featuring entertainment acts in 1991.
- Lead-out Show Up 50% From Last Year: The Super Bowl lead-out program, the reality show ‘The Voice,’ earned 37.6 million viewers on NBC — up 50% from last year’s episode of ‘Glee’ on FOX (25.141M), but down 3% from a 2010 episode of ‘Undercover Boss’ on CBS (38.654M). The last NBC program to air after the Super Bowl — a 2009 episode of ‘The Office’ — earned just 22.905 million viewers.
(Sunday’s numbers from NBC Sports Group press release)
