The broadcast of Super Bowl LVIII by CBS Sports between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers garnered an average of 123.7 million viewers across platforms, rendering it the most-watched television program in U.S. history. This monumental rating surpassed last year’s metric by approximately 7% from the contest the year prior, now standing as the largest single network television audience on record.
Play-by-play announcer Jim Nantz, color commentator Tony Romo and sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson were featured on coverage of the primary broadcast, which scored more than 120 million viewers on its own according to data from Nielsen Media Research. The presentation also marked the last Super Bowl under the leadership of CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus, who will retire from his position in April.
Nantz suffered laryngitis-like symptoms following the game, he revealed in an interview with the Dan Patrick Show on Friday morning. Moreover, he said that various other members of the crew were ill after the game but commended them for their efforts in the record-breaking production. Nantz has not gone back to watch the game or review his performance, although he acknowledged that he is playing it back in his head “a hundred million times.” Nonetheless, he exhibited confidence and satisfaction with the production itself, which included an open to “My Way” by Frank Sinatra performed live in the MSG Sphere.
“The fact that it went five quarters; you’ve got Taylor [Swift] sitting in a suite being shown, I think that the rating might hold up,” Nantz said. “Usually you kind of pass it on – the next year it gets topped and then the next year it gets topped – you just kind of leapfrog one another – but I think this one’s actually going to be in place for a long, long time as the most-watched show in the history of American television.”
Nantz would generally be looking forward to calling the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament for CBS Sports. Yet he retired after serving as a broadcaster for the college basketball property for over three decades, taking over the role previously held by Brent Musburger. Nantz will broadcast The Masters golf tournament for CBS in April, but until then he has time for respite after a busy season of the NFL on CBS.
“I’ve been knocked on my backside here with whatever it was that half the crew came down with after the Super Bowl, but I’m excited to actually have the month off and be able to go on a spring break with my kids and be able to do some things that I haven’t done in almost 40 years,” Nantz said. “I love the tournament – I’m actually going to appear at the tournament [in] a couple of places to cheer on my Houston Cougars. I’ll be at the Final Four in some very limited capacity and going to take in the games and sit in the stands and enjoy it as a fan.”
