Super Bowl 2023 reaches 113m viewers

This year’s Super Bowl brought in just 1% more viewers than last year, but enough to make it the third biggest US TV program of all time, according to Nielsen figures.

Why it matters

Ahead of the game, some studies had pointed to an increased viewership in 2023, in a year of deeper changes to the event’s commercial backdrop. This included Apple’s halftime show sponsorship and the end of AB InBev’s exclusivity, which led to greater competition from beer and alcohol brands targeting a critically in-market segment of ‘super fans’.

Critical to the long-term performance of that work, however, is how distinctive the ads are during the game, which is still a challenge for many brands.

What happened

Having claimed record bookings in the run-up to the big game, Fox hosted the third most watched Super Bowl of all time with 113m viewers on average and a total viewership (households that watched any part of the broadcast) of 183m, according to Nielsen figures reported by Variety.

• While linear viewing was king, the game also brought in 7m digital streams – the most ever, according to Fox.
• As confirmation of the high reach of the Super Bowl, the top two broadcasts in US history were the 2015 game at 114.4m and the 2017 game with 113.7m.
• Other elements were key: Rihanna’s halftime show alone brought in an average of 119m, per Fox’s internal figures.

Sourced from Nielsen via Variety, WARC 

[Image: NFL]