More than 1 in 4 US homes watched the Super Bowl; Halftime show scores 19% year-over-year increase in viewership; Analysis finds significant viewership enthusiasm gap between Cincinnati and Los Angeles Markets

Samba TV, the leading global provider of omniscreen advertising and analytics, released US linear television and streaming viewership data from Sunday night’s Rams vs. Bengals Super Bowl match-up.

The viewership data from Samba TV’s massive device footprint, the most representative panel in the US capturing linear and streaming, found that this year’s championship game scored significant viewership increases from 2021.

36 million US households, representing more than 1 in 4 US homes, watched the Super Bowl this year. This year’s game attracted a significant audience uptick for the NFL with Super Bowl LVI drawing in viewership from 12% more households than last year’s game.

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“In Q4 of 2021, every one of the top five television programs was an NFL game, and that momentum helped linear TV notch its first ratings increase since 2020,” said Cole Strain, Head of Measurement for Samba TV. “We saw that same momentum and excitement for the NFL carry over to this year’s match-up between the Rams and the Bengals with the NFL continuing its ratings winning streak gaining Super Bowl viewership year over year by 12%, reaching 36 million households.”

The halftime show was also a big audience draw this year smashing 2021’s viewership numbers. 29 million US households, an increase of 19% year-over-year, viewed the halftime performances.

“The power-house performances from Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, Eminem, Mary J. Blige and 50 Cent rocked the ratings on Sunday night shattering last year’s halftime audience drawing in millions of more viewers across both linear television and streaming,” said Cole Strain.

The halftime show not only entertained fans who were watching the game between the halfs, it also drew in a sizable audience that came just for the music.

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The number of households that tuned in just to watch the much-hyped halftime show (and then tuned out before the 3^rd quarter) were up 60% from 2021. The halftime show also attracted a large audience that then stayed for the second half helping to boost overall ratings for the Super Bowl. 1.2 million households began watching the Super Bowl during the halftime show and stayed to watch the second half.

“The halftime hype drew in millions of new viewers who came to watch the performances but who also stayed for the second half,” said Strain. “The number of households who started watching during the halftime and stayed for the second half kickoff were up 41% year over year. No matter how you look at it, the halftime show was a big winner for the NFL.”

Cincinnati was the second-highest audience market in the US in terms of viewership over-indexing the national average. Cincinnati viewers over-indexed by 13% (Boston was #1 at 15%). Although the Rams played in their hometown for the game, Los Angeles was only the #12 highest indexing DMA of the top 25 DMAs plus Cincinnati, with a very slight 1% over-index of the national average. “When it comes to the match-up between local fans, Cincinnati die-hards out-viewed Angelinos significantly on Sunday night,” said Strain.

“From the halftime show viewership that increased 19% to the game itself which was watched in more than 1 in 4 homes in America, this year’s Super Bowl scored big for advertisers, the NFL and for NBC,” concluded Strain.

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