The television broadcast of Sunday night’s Super Bowl LX reached an all-time viewership record of 137.8 million in the US, according to remarkable figures just released by NBC.
The showdown between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks was the second most-watched Super Bowl of all-time, only beaten by last year’s Chiefs-Eagles game, with an average of nearly 125 million viewers across the US.
Records were broken midway through the second quarter, though, when the highest peak viewership in US TV history was recorded at just shy of 138 million.
The Seahawks’ 29-13 victory over the Patriots was not regarded as the most entertaining game on the field, but it still had America gripped across NBC, Peacock, Telemundo, NBC Sports Digital, and NFL+.
Nielsen figures also revealed that the game was the most-watched show in the history of NBCUniversal, and the most-watched Super Bowl in US Spanish-language history.
‘The Super Bowl and the NFL once again delivered a blockbuster audience across the NBC broadcast network, Peacock, and Telemundo, and provided an unprecedented lead-in to our Primetime in Milan coverage,’ NBC President Rick Cordella said in a statement.
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold takes in the moment after winning the Super Bowl
Bad Bunny’s halftime show drew in huge numbers from across America and well beyond
Seahawks’ linebacker Uchenna Nwosu celebrates as he scores a touchdown vs the Patriots
‘The Super Bowl and the Olympics are the two most powerful events in the world, and we salute our talented production, tech, and announce teams who delivered best-in-class presentations for our viewers, stations, and partners.’
Bad Bunny’s halftime show averaged 128.2 million viewers from 8:15pm to 8:30pm on Sunday night, while it broke all-time NFL records on social media.
Incredibly, it has recorded a total consumption of four billion views in the first 24 hours – up 137% year-on-year – and the top three most-viewed NFL social posts in history are all clips from Bad Bunny’s show, led by his ‘Only Thing More Powerful Than Hate Is Love’ finale.
In total, the clips posted by the NFL’s social team have been viewed for over 115 years on social media platforms.
Postgame, viewers also stayed tuned in as coverage switched from the Super Bowl to the Olympics, with Mike Tirico calling the game and then hosting the Milan-Cortina coverage (before jumping straight on a flight to Italy).
Sunday night’s Primetime in Milan show averaged 42 million viewers, a remarkable figure given the coverage was highlights-based and airing late at night.