As the sports calendar turns each year, it is a virtual guarantee that the Super Bowl will be at the top of the ratings ladder. The question is whether or not it will outperform the previous year, and the metrics are especially important to broadcast networks, advertisers and media executives.
Three months after the game, Nielsen Media Research is refining its viewership measurement of Super Bowl LVII to an average of 115.1 million viewers across FOX, FOX Deportes and digital platforms. The change makes it the most viewed television program in American history.
The achievement caps off a stellar year for FOX Sports, during which it broadcast the 2022 FIFA World Cup; inked a new deal with the Big 12; and announced plans to add Derek Jeter to its baseball coverage and the aforementioned Brady to its football coverage among other things. FOX Sports previously announced an average audience of 113 million viewers for Super Bowl LVII, which placed it as the third most-viewed Super Bowl of all time behind Super Bowl XLIX (NBC Sports) and Super Bowl LI (FOX Sports). The latter game contained the extraordinary 25-point comeback by Tom Brady and the New England Patriots to defeat the Atlanta Falcons.
The research company’s previous measurement accidentally associated over 1 million viewers to an internal NFL Network feed of the game when, in reality, those views were with FOX Sports. Moreover, the probe of the error revealed an additional 1 million viewers that were left unaccounted for because of an error related to out-of-home viewership. Nielsen Media Research discovered its mistake independently and made FOX Sports and the National Football League aware.
“We strive to meet the highest standards for transparency and accuracy in audience measurement,” Nielsen Media Research said in a statement provided to Bill Shea and Richard Deistch of The Athletic. “The Super Bowl continues to be a unique media event in terms of its size and diversity in how audiences watch the game. We appreciate the support and collaboration from our partners at FOX and the NFL to correct previously unknown errors to ultimately provide a more accurate measure for this year’s total audience for the game.”
The development renders Super Bowl LVII, in which the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35 to win its second Super Bowl championship in the last four years, the most-watched Super Bowl of all time. Its average viewership finished ahead of Super Bowl XLIX, broadcast in 2015 by NBC, and marks a historic moment for FOX Sports with its new lead commentary booth of Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olsen. The network expects to add Tom Brady in the fold at the start of the 2024 season on a 10-year contract worth a reported $375 million.
