A close game and a well-received halftime show led to an uptick in viewership from a year ago.
A Super Bowl that went down to the final minute paired with a highly-anticipated halftime show made for a ratings win for NBC on Sunday.
Nielsen revealed its ratings for the Super Bowl broadcast, with this year's telecast averaging 112.3 million viewers across all platforms, making it the most-watched show in five years.
Over 101 million viewers watched the broadcast on TV across NBC and Telemundo, with another 11.2 million watching on streaming services. The last TV broadcast to top this year’s Super Bowl in terms of viewership was Super Bowl LI, when the Patriots beat the Falcons in the first overtime game in Super Bowl history (113.7 million viewers).
The halftime show, which drew favorable reactions on social media, averaged 103.4 million viewers, topping last year's halftime show by 7% (96.7 million). The audience watching on Telemundo made for the largest Spanish-language NFL game ever.
The top local market for the Super Bowl was Cincinnati, which held a 46.1/84 rating. Los Angeles did not crack the top 10, delivering a 36.7/77 rating. Check out the rest of the top 10 below:
1. Cincinnati (46.1/84)
2. Detroit (45.9/79)
3. Pittsburgh (45.6/74)
4. Columbus (45.4/80)
5. Kansas City (44.6/76)
6. Milwaukee (44.0/75)
6. Cleveland (44.0/78)
8. Boston (42.6/74)
9. Philadelphia (42.3/71)
10. Jacksonville (41.3/73)
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