Super Bowl Overnight Ratings Fifth Highest in History

Despite Super Bowl XLVIII being a one-sided game with the Seattle Seahawks beating Denver Broncos 43-8 it didn’t stop the television ratings reaching a high.

The “overnight” figures, which measure 56 major markets, showed an average of 47.6 percent of homes in those markets watched the game, the fifth-best such rating on record. 

In the New York area, 50.5 percent of homes tuned in – the best rating for a Super Bowl in the market since 53.4 percent of homes saw the Giants beat the Broncos in Super Bowl XXV in 1987.

The Denver market usually is one of the strongest in the NFL when the Broncos are playing, but apparently many fans there turned away from the game early — for understandable reasons. Denver did not make the top five markets, which were led not by Seattle but by Kansas City at 58.1 percent. Presumably many people there enjoyed watching the rival Broncos go down.

Denver finished 10th at 51.4 (with an 83 share), behind Las Vegas (52.5), Portland (52.4), Knoxville (52.3) and Jacksonville (52.0) in spots six through nine.

Seattle came in second at 56.7 – plus an astronomical “share” of 92, which measures the percentage of TVs actually in use that were tuned in to the game.

Indianapolis (53.9), New Orleans (53.2) and Tulsa (52.9) were the next-highest-rated markets, according to Fox.

Full US ratings are expected Monday afternoon.