Super Bowl LI scores top ratings, just shy of record
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Michelle Clancy
| 07 February 2017

Early Nielsen numbers show that Super Bowl LI ended up with 111.3 million viewers, short of the record 114.4 million viewers from 2015.

The New England Patriots stormed back from a 25-point deficit to win their fifth Super Bowl with a last-minute 34-28 win over the Atlanta Falcons in the first overtime session in the game's history. The exciting game overall drew a 48.8 rating in the key adults 18-49 demographic. In total viewers, the game pulled 113.7 million, again short of the 2015 record, and 1.7 million people also watched via streaming, with 650,000 watched on Fox Deportes.

Meanwhile TiVo highlighted the event’s most engaging commercials, promotions and in-game moments. This year’s ‘tech’ bowl brought out the best in technology advertisers, including Amazon, Google, Hulu, Intel, Mobile Strike, Netflix, Nintendo, T-Mobile, Sprint, Squarespace, Wix and World of Tanks. Accompanying the tech-themed advertisements, Intel brought the latest in GPS-controlled drone technology to join Lady Gaga during the half-time show.

Commercial content spun the gamut, from cute and comedic to sweet and sentimental, often including celebrity faces and sports star cameos. Bai Brands ranked the highest overall in engagement with an appearance by Christopher Walken, who dramatically delivered the lyrics to Bye Bye Bye alongside Justin Timberlake.

“As one of the biggest broadcasting events of the year, this epic showdown represents the perfect opportunity for brands and advertisers to attract and engage with fans on the grandest sports stage in the world,” said Paul Stathacopoulos, vice president of strategy, TiVo. “Marketers are often searching for the most efficient and effective platforms to reach their customers but even as commercial content continues to get flashier, strategic placement is key. Using advertising analytics and data-driven audience insights can further nurture viewer engagement, leading to better entertainment experiences.”

For the seventh consecutive year, TiVo found viewership for the half-time show exceeding that of the overall game. Known for her over-the-top ensembles and electronic dance moves, Lady Gaga’s high-tech half-time performance was exceedingly well-received, generating 41 thousand tweets per minute. The pyrotechnic showcase ended with this year’s top moment of the broadcast including a theatric mic drop and jump off the stage. Based on data from the last nine years, this year’s half-time show ranked third, right behind 2012’s performance by Madonna and 2015’s halftime show featuring Katy Perry and Lenny Kravitz.