UPDATED: Sunday’s Super Bowl LVI between the Los Angeles Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals drew just over 112 million total viewers on NBC, Telemundo, Peacock, NBC Sports Digital, NFL Digital platforms, and Yahoo Sports mobile properties, and reached 167 million viewers overall. With all of NBC’s muscle, The Rams-Bengals matchup became the most-watched show in 5 years.
“The Super Bowl once again delivered a massive audience, which included NBC and the unmatched power of broadcast television as well as first-ever presentations on Peacock and Telemundo, and led into our most-watched Olympics coverage in four years,” said Mark Lazarus, Chairman, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, in a statement.
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Per Nielsen data, the game averaged 101.1 million traditional TV on NBC and Telemundo. That means this year’s Super Bowl telecast was up 8% from 2021’s showdown between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Kansas City Chiefs, which drew about 91.6 million.
NBC’s multiplatform broadcast of the Rams defeating the Bengals in a tight cinch for the Vince Lombardi Trophy— 23 to 20 —rose above the 100 million linear viewer threshold and set a record for streaming.
NBC not only ran the 2022 NFL championship game, but also all national ads, the halftime show featuring hip-hop and rap legends Dr. Dre, Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Bilge, Kendrick Lamar and surprise musical guest 50 Cent, and pre-and post-game coverage.
For more comparison, 2019’s clash between the New England Patriots and the Los Angeles Rams on CBS averaged approximately 98.2 million viewers on the network alone— the Super Bowl’s lowest viewership total since 2008— and 100.7 million across all CBS platforms. The 2018 Super Bowl between the Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles on NBC drew 103.4 million.
Super Bowl LVI’s telecast numbers were in-line with Variety’s Intelligence Platform, which predicted a TV audience of between 97 million and 100 million watching this Sunday on NBC, greater than last year and on par with 2019’s battle for football’s highest honor.
“We’re gratified that our strategy of combining the two most powerful events in the world – the Super Bowl and the Olympics – on ‘Super Gold Sunday’ has paid off in such a big way,” added NBC Sports Chairman Pete Bevacqua. “We look forward to continuing this strategy into the future.”
More to come…
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