Super Bowl XLVII Ranks as Third Most-Watched Event

NEW YORK: Last night’s Super Bowl averaged 108.4 million, making it the third most-watched game of all time.

Preliminary ratings results from Super Bowl XLVII on CBS show an overnight rating of 48.1 percent, with a 71 share in the 56 metered markets across the U.S.

Last night’s game, which saw the Baltimore Ravens win over the San Francisco 49ers, was the highest-rated Super Bowl in metered markets in history. The ratings were up 1 percent from last year’s 47.8/71 in metered markets.

These Nielsen ratings, however, exclude from 8:45 p.m. to 9:15 p.m., when a power outage interrupted the broadcast. "Immediately after the power failure in the Superdome, we lost numerous cameras and some audio powered by sources in the Superdome," said Jennifer Sabatelle, the VP of communications for CBS Sports, in a statement about the outage. "We utilized CBS’s back-up power and at no time did we leave the air. During the interruption, CBS Sports’ Steve Tasker, Solomon Wilcots and our studio team reported on the situation as a breaking news story, providing updates and reports while full power was being restored to the dome including our sets and broadcast booth. All commercial commitments during the broadcast are being honored."

The highest rated period during Sunday’s broadcast occurred between 10:30 p.m. and 10:45 p.m., when the game came down to the wire. Last year’s Super Bowl garnered a record 111.3 million viewers.

Networked Insights analyzed viewer conversations across social media for last night’s event, and reports that more than 24 million real-time social conversations across Twitter, Facebook, blogs and forums took place during the Super Bowl. More than 6 million conversations were about Beyoncé, who performed for the half-time show.

According to Networked Insights, the top 10 most discussed ads were, in terms of social mentions, GoDaddy’s Perfect Match, Taco Bell’s Viva Young, Calvin Klein’s Concept 30, AB InBev’s Brotherhood, Ram’s Farmer, Oreo’s Cookie vs Cream, Wonderful Pistachios’ Crackin’ Style, Tide’s Miracle Stain and Doritos’ Goat and Fashionista. Of the top 10 most discussed ads, Tide’s Miracle Stain had the most positive viewer reaction, while GoDaddy’s Perfect Match had the most negative.

The top celebrity ad appearances were Psy, Amy Poehler, Paul Rudd, Lebron James and Seth Rogen. Psy’s Wonderful Pistachios spot was the most talked about celebrity ad appearance, while Poehler’s Best Buy ad was the most positively talked about.

The top five most tweeted hashtags were #Clydesdales for Budweiser, #Doritos for Pepsi/Frito-Lay, #CrackInStyle from Wonderful Pistachios, #CalvinKlein and #GodMadeAFarmer for Ram.