Television February 13, 2024
The Taylor Effect: Super Bowl LVIII Was Most-Watched Telecast Since Moon Landing!
Super Bowl LVIII made television history — could it be the Taylor effect?
The game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers now holds the record for the most-watched Super Bowl, and garnered the biggest ratings since the moon landing!
ESPN, citing Nielsen and Adobe Analytics, reports an average of 123.4 million viewers caught the game on CBS, Nickelodeon, Univision, or Paramount+.
Last year, an average of 115.1 million watched the Super Bowl.
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View StoryNielsen added that a whopping 202.4 million watched at least some of the game this year, up from 183.6 million last year.
CNN reports the 1969 moon landing garnered between 125 and 150 million viewers.
As for this year's Super Bowl, this was the first year that Nielsen counted out-of-home viewers in not just limited markets but all 50 states, which could account for some of the jump in ratings.
Some also credit Taylor Swift. The singer and her relationship with Chiefs player Travis Kelce was all anyone could talk about before the big game, including her racing from Tokyo to Las Vegas in time to see Travis play.
Swift was in a suite rooting for the Chiefs as they won the game 25-22 in overtime. The game was also the longest in Super Bowl history.