While the Super Bowl remains the biggest night on television each year, this year’s ratings were down five percent from last year, and carried the lowest total viewership in an entire decade.
According to Austin Karp of Sports Business Journal, Super Bowl LIII drew a 44.9/68 overnight rating, which is the lowest since the Steelers-Cardinals match-up back in 2009.
“Shown on CBS for the first time since 2016 and with ad spots going for around $5 million each, the Rams’ loss scored a 44.9/68 in metered market results,” reports Deadline. “To put that in the starkest light of day, that’s a dip of more than 5% from Super Bowl LII February 4, 2018 on NBC in the first round of ratings.”
According to Yahoo! Sports, Super Bowl LIII was the highest-rated Super Bowl in the Los Angeles market since 1996, as many viewers were tuned in to see if the Rams would be victorious (they lost to the New England Patriots, 13-3).
New Orleans, however, was the lowest-rated market in the country. Fans of the Saints boycotted the game entirely, and the city celebrated a “Boycott Bowl” party. The team lost the NFC Championship game to the Rams for what many believe was a bogus call.
