Super Bowl Ratings Hit 10-Year Low, Drop Five Percent From 2018

Rob Gronkowski #87 of the New England Patriots catches a 29-yard reception in the fourth quarter against the Los Angeles Rams during Super Bowl LIII at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, on Feb. 3, 2019. (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

Ratings for the Super Bowl fell to a decade-low, including a five percent drop from the previous year.

The game was dubbed boring by many for its low scoring and lack of big plays.

By the end, the New England Patriots notched a 13-3 victory over the Los Angeles Rams. It was the Patriots’ third straight appearance in the Super Bowl, perhaps another factor in the low television ratings.

The matchup was also the lowest scoring Super Bowl in history, beating the previous record, which was a Miami Dolphins victory over the Washington Redskins in 1973 that had a combined 21 points.

The big game was broadcast on CBS for the first time since 2016 and advertisement spots sold for about $5 million each, but the game scored just 44.9/68 in metered market results, reported Deadline.

Metered market ratings, or overnight ratings, are preliminary data published by Nielsen based on a compilation of its local samples.

“To put that in the starkest light of day, that’s a dip of more than five percent from Super Bowl LII February 4, 2018, on NBC in the first round of ratings,” the entertainment-focused website reported. “Sunday’s metered market result is the worst the Super Bowl has done in the early numbers since the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Arizona Cardinals on February 1, 2009.”

The ratings were also an eight percent drop from the last time the big game was shown on CBS. That game, Super Bowl 50, drew approximately 111.9 million viewers.

The most-watched Super Bowl ever was the New England Patriots vs the Seattle Seahawks in 2015, with the Patriots win being seen by 114.4 million people.

During Sunday’s game, the audience peaked during the time period between 9:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. ET, with 47.3 million tuning in, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The game ended during that time period.

The program that aired after the Super Bowl, the premiere of “The World’s Best,” earned a 14 in metered-market households, down by about 14 percent from the preliminary ratings that “This Is Us” earned after the previous Super Bowl.

That preliminary rating last year ended up translating to about 27 million viewers for the NBC show.

Poll Showed Most Wanted Rams to Win

A poll showed that about 33 percent of respondents wanted the Rams to beat the Patriots.

The nationwide poll was conducted by Remington Research Group, with a total of 2,321 registered voters responding.

While one-third wanted the Rams to win, 20 percent of respondents said they were pulling for the Patriots.

However, signaling people’s boredom with the Patriots being in the big game again and some people’s apathy towards the NFL in general, 44 percent said they didn’t care who won the game.

Out of the group who said they were planning to watch the Super Bowl, 63 percent said they were most looking forward to watching the game itself while 18 percent said they were most looking forward to the commercials.

The rest said they were either mostly looking forward to the halftime show, which saw a performance by Maroon 5, or the party at which they were watching the game.

From NTD News