The CB telecast of Sunday night of the Denver Broncos 24-10 victory over the Carolina Panthers delivered the second highest overnight rating on record for the Super Bowl–behind only last year.
According to Nielsen, Super Bowl 50 averaged a 49.0 household rating/73 share in the 56 metered markets across the country, peaking with a 51.0/73 for the final 15 minutes (10-10:15 p.m. ET).
The late surge in the ratings suggests viewers wanted to witness the coronation of Peyton Manning in what is likely his final game as an NFL quarterback.
Last year’s game on NBC between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks averaged a 49.7 household rating in the overnights, which became an all-time record national audience of 114.4 million viewers.
Nielsen will issue total-viewer estimates for the game and post-game programs later today.
The Super Bowl has established all time U.S. viewership records with five of its last six contests, and there’s still a shot that last night’s game could be ahead of last year’s in the finals.
Digital ratings for the game are expected to shatter records, as this year’s Super Bowl was available free for the first time on over-the-top Internet devices like Apple TV and Roku.
Marking another first, all the ads in the Super Bowl TV broadcast were carried in digital streams as well,
RECENT SUPER BOWL OVERNIGHTS
2016 — Denver-Carolina (CBS) …………… 49.0
2015 — New England-Seattle (NBC) ……. 49.7
2014 — Seattle-Denver (Fox) ……………… 47.6
2013 — Baltimore-San Francisco (CBS) .. 48.1
2012 — NY Giants-New England (NBC) .. 47.8
