New York (CNN) The Super Bowl delivered super ratings for Fox.
The match between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs, a nervous breakdown that saw the latter team emerge victorious after a game-changing game late in the fourth quarter, averaged 113 million viewers on television and digital assets, according to initial data from Nielsen fox .
This makes Super Bowl LVII the third most viewed television show of all time. And it represents the best audience for the big game in six years, beating the 2022 showdown, which averaged 112.3 million viewers on NBC.
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Fox Sports said the Apple Music Halftime Show with Rihanna drew an average of 118.7 million viewers, making it the second most-watched performance in Super Bowl history.
As expected, the biggest crowds for the game were Kansas City and Philadelphia, followed by Cincinnati, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Norfolk, Charlotte, Minneapolis and St. Louis – all with ratings over 70.
The numbers underscore once again that while linear television may be in decline, live sport still reaches exceptional audiences.
However, it’s worth noting that the decline from linear is present in the viewership data. According to Fox, Super Bowl LVII was the most-streamed Super Bowl in history, with an average of 7 million viewers watching via internet-based services. This number represents a jump of 18% compared to the previous year.
And the transition from linear television offerings to programs that stream on platforms like Netflix and HBO Max could also show up in the post-Super Bowl era. According to Fox, just 15.5 million people stayed on the network to watch Gordon Ramsay’s “Next Level Chef,” which was heavily promoted throughout the game.
“This is the smallest audience for a post-self-service hour in modern ratings history,” said Vulture’s Josef Adalian pointed out.