Sunday's Super Bowl TV audience lowest in 15 years (updated)

Paramount Global

09/02/2021 17:42

(Adds Nielsen estimates and background)
    By Helen Coster and Lisa Richwine
    Feb 9 (Reuters) - Sunday's Super Bowl broadcast on CBS
attracted an average television audience of about 92 million
viewers, roughly 9% below last year's National Football League
championship, according to Nielsen data released on Tuesday. 
    The TV audience for the game on CBS, owned by ViacomCBS Inc
 VIACA.O , was the lowest since 2006. The figure includes people
who watched on televisions at home and in bars and restaurants.
    This year's contest featured quarterback Tom Brady leading
the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a 31-9 victory over the Kansas City
Chiefs. It was Brady's seventh Super Bowl win.
    TV viewership for the game, the biggest U.S. television
event annually, peaked in 2015 at 114.4 million. 
    Audiences have been turning to streaming platforms in recent
years, and CBS said Sunday's contest was the most live-streamed
NFL game ever. The streaming audience averaged 5.7 million
people across several digital properties, the network said.
    This year's match-up in Tampa, Florida was the culmination
of a season that once appeared in doubt, as the coronavirus
spread through the United States and disrupted the world of
professional sports.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2KD0JY
    The TV ratings decline for the game was in line with
declines in viewership of NFL games this past season.
    The 65,618-capacity Raymond James Stadium had the appearance
of a packed crowd, with cardboard cutouts scattered between
in-person fans. The stadium allowed 25,000 ticketed fans in the
stands and suites for the event.
    CBS said it had sold out commercial time for the game, which
featured notable ads for Jeep (starring Bruce Springsteen in his
first-ever commercial) and Uber Eats (featuring Mike Myers and
Dana Carvey in their “Wayne’s World” roles). A 30-second ad sold
for about $5.5 million this year, about the same as last year.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2KB01V

 (Reporting by Kenneth Li and Helen Coster in New York;
Additional reporting by Lisa Richwine in Los Angeles
Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Paul Simao)
 ((K.Li@thomsonreuters.com;))