Super Bowl viewership increased in every single demographic, but no more than in the young and female demos that attracted so much attention this season.
The biggest year-over-year gain in Super Bowl viewership this year was among women 18-24, 3.87 million of whom tuned in across CBS and Univision — up 24% from last year (3.18M). Men 18-24 placed second with a 20% increase (from 3.86 to 4.61 million) and girls 12-17 third with an 11% jump (from 2.63 to 2.85 million). Those three demographics combined to average 1.81 million more viewers than last year, accounting for 24% of the additional audience for this year’s game (7.41M). (As a detailed demographic breakdown was unavailable for the Nickelodeon simulcast, those figures are excluded here.)
By comparison, viewership increased 6% among women 25-54 and boys 2-17 — in line with the overall average across CBS and Univision — and just 1% in men 25-54. The main CBS telecast actually declined among men 25-54 (from 25.09 to 25.16 million), with the Univision simulcast making up the shortfall.
The overall 25-54 demographic was up just 3% (from 47.50 to 49.06 million), easily the smallest gain of the major adult demographics. Viewership increased 6% in adults 18-49 (from 45.65 to 48.50M) and 8% in 18-34 (from 20.98 to 22.66 million).
One might assume from the above that the growth in viewership shrank with age, but that was not the case. Viewership among adults 55+ increased an above-average 8% (from 46.08 to 49.74 million), matching both 18-34 and 12-17 (from 6.16 to 6.64 million). That breaks down to a 9% increase among women (from 22.02 to 23.92M) and a 7% gain among men (from 24.06 to 25.81M).
Female viewership in general was up 8% from last year from 53.78 million to 58.18 million, compared to a 5% increase among men. Women accounted for 47.5% of the overall audience, up from 46.7% last year. (Per the New York Post, that 47.5% mark is a new record for the Super Bowl.)
There were 4.4 million additional female viewers than last year, compared to 3.0 million additional male viewers.
Super Bowl 58 demographic breakdown
