A blowout on the field didn’t deter a record number of viewers from watching Super Bowl LIX.
Sunday’s telecast averaged 126 million viewers, according to early figures from Nielsen and internal Fox data. If that number holds, it will be the second straight year that the Super Bowl set an all-time viewing record in the United States. Sunday’s game is currently up about about 2 percent compared to last year’s record-setting 123.7 million viewers on CBS (which accounted for 120.25 million of those viewers) and other platforms.
The lopsided nature of the game seemingly had no effect on the TV audience. The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 40-22, in a game that wasn’t as close as the final score suggests: The Eagles’ lead was 34-0 late in the third quarter, and 40-6 before a pair of Kansas City touchdowns in the final three minutes of the game.
Viewing peaked at 135.7 million from 8-8:15 p.m. ET, during the game’s second quarter, when the Eagles were building a 24-0 halftime lead. But viewers clearly stuck around for Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show, which included the rapper performing his Grammy-winning, Drake-beefing hit “Not Like Us,” and the second half of the game.
More to come.
Leave a Reply