Super Bowl LVI Ratings Tops in 5 Years; Pittsburgh 3rd-Best Market

The NFL’s return to Los Angeles for the biggest game of the year proved fruitful for the league, as Super Bowl LVI was the most-watched show in five years, with the largest live television audience since Super Bowl LI in 2017.

A total of 167 million viewers tuned in to watch the hometown Rams defeat the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 on Sunday night. Over 101 million viewers watched the NBC or Telemundo broadcasts, while 11.2 million watched via NBC’s Peacock app, making it the most-streamed Super Bowl ever.

“The Super Bowl once again delivered a massive audience, which included NBC and the unmatched power of broadcast television as well as first-ever presentations on Peacock and Telemundo, and led into our most-watched Olympics coverage in four years,” Mark Lazarus, Chairman, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, said in a press release Tuesday.

Viewership of The Pepsi Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show, starring Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige and Kendrick Lamar, along with special guest 50 Cent, had 7% more viewers than the previous year’s.

While the Steelers may not have been playing in the game, plenty of Pittsburghers tuned in anyways. Pittsburgh was the third-highest metered market with a 45.6 rating and 74 share. Only Cincinnati and Detroit did better. Los Angeles did not finish in the top ten, despite the Rams playing in the game at home. Cincinnati had a 46.1 rating and 84 share. Los Angeles had a 36.7 rating and 77 share. Columbus, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Boston, Philadelphia and Jacksonville rounded out the top ten markets. 

NBC’s post-Super Bowl slot went to the network’s 2022 Winter Olympics coverage, which turned in the best Olympics audience since the opening ceremonies of the 2018 games. The event marked the first time the Super Bowl and the Winter Olympics have taken place on the same day, something that could happen more often. CBS and NBC exchanged Super Bowls to set the week up,

“We’re gratified that our strategy of combining the two most powerful events in the world – the Super Bowl and the Olympics – on ‘Super Gold Sunday’ has paid off in such a big way,” NBC Sports chairman Pete Bevacqua said. “We look forward to continuing this strategy into the future.”

Super Bowl LVII will be held in Glendale, Arizona on Feb. 12, 2023 and will be broadcast by FOX, which starts an 11-year contract cycle that rotates through broadcast partners ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC every four years, meaning NBC’s Super Bowl turn will continue to coincide with the Winter Olympics, which will next be held in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy in February 2026.

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