eBusiness Weekly
This year’s Super Bowl was watched by an average of 123,4 million people in the US, making it the most watched broadcast since the 1969 Moon landing.
Preliminary US TV ratings put Sunday’s game just behind Apollo 11’s historic landing, which was seen by an estimated 125 to 150 million people.
Kansas City Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 in overtime.
Taylor Swift’s highly anticipated attendance to watch boyfriend Travis Kelce may have boosted the figures.
There was much speculation in the run-up to the event about whether Swift would make it back from Japan, where she had been performing on tour.
According to Variety, there is some debate over how much she affected audience numbers, but consumer research firm Numerator concluded from a flash poll that 20 percent of Super Bowl viewers were rooting for the Chiefs because of the singer’s relationship with Kelce.
The cameras were certainly enjoying the Swift factor, including shots of the star entering the arena, hanging out with actress Blake Lively and rapper Ice Spice, and kissing Kelce after the match as they celebrated the win.
Of this year’s viewers, 112 million of the 123,4 million average watched the game on CBS, with the rest tuning into Paramount+, Nickelodeon, Univision, CBS Sports and NFL digital channels.
According to media analysts Nielsen, a record 202,4 million people watched at least part of the game.
This year’s figures may have also been helped by the fact Nielsen has changed the way it counts people watching out of their own homes — for example with friends or family, or in bars.
Last year’s Super Bowl game between the Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles was watched by 115,1 million viewers. — ESPN.com
