Early Super Bowl ratings set record

by James Hibberd

CBS Sports has released very preliminary numbers that say Super Bowl XLVII could be the most-watched game in history.

Sunday’s telecast of the Baltimore Ravens vs. San Francisco 49ers game had an overnight rating/share of 48.1/71 in metered markets.

That’s up 1 percent from last year’s N.Y. Giants vs. New England game, which was the most-watched game ever.

Ratings peaked at from 10:30-10:45 PM, ET. National ratings, including the big viewership total, will be released later today. The final numbers could shift slightly from these less reliable early figures, so stay tuned.

thugger wrote:
You have a good product.  The true football fan is getting turned off by all the party bs and music acts.  If you guys continue to fail to focus on football you are going to lose your core audience.  Once college football gets the heads out of the a$$es and gets a real postseason tournament the NFL might be as popular as the NBA.

thugger wrote:
You have a good product.  The true football fan is getting turned off by all the party bs and music acts.  If you guys continue to fail to focus on football you are going to lose your core audience.  Once college football gets the heads out of the a$$es and gets a real postseason tournament the NFL might be as popular as the NBA.

va1bucksfan1 wrote:

awesomebucks wrote: what about that anthem?  Must have set a record for length and was plain awful. 

 
I have to agree.  I really can't stand self-indulgent versions of the national athem.  Just sing it correctly and sing it well instead of trying to show off your own "artisitc interpretation" of it.

ChiTownOSUnut wrote:

Although the playoff ratings will be huge as the games and importance of the regular season become the same why would a new fan choose to watch the lower level?

trinitytex wrote: Marvin Gaye begs to differ.

Fantastic

va1bucksfan1 wrote:

awesomebucks wrote: what about that anthem?  Must have set a record for length and was plain awful. 

 
I have to agree.  I really can't stand self-indulgent versions of the national athem.  Just sing it correctly and sing it well instead of trying to show off your own "artisitc interpretation" of it.

coopercougar wrote: Early reports are this was the highest rated game in history...

I know Colin Cowherd is not a favorite around here, but I love him.  I love him because he's detached, rational with a wild "don't give a damn" streak.  He's also right FAR more often than he's not.  You have to listen to what he says about the NFL and why it so successful because he's right.  The NFL is as popular as it is and only getting more popular because it is constantly evolving and changing.  You can't say that for any other sport.  Baseball is the same game it was 80 years ago which is why it has for decades been losing popularity among young people.  

va1bucksfan1 wrote:

trinitytex wrote: Marvin Gaye begs to differ.

Fantastic

va1bucksfan1 wrote:

awesomebucks wrote: what about that anthem?  Must have set a record for length and was plain awful. 

 
I have to agree.  I really can't stand self-indulgent versions of the national athem.  Just sing it correctly and sing it well instead of trying to show off your own "artisitc interpretation" of it.

 
Yuck.  Am I supposed to be impressed because it was Marvin Gaye?  If he wanted to put some alternative version of the National Anthem like that on one of his albums, fine.  But to do it at a sporting event makes it all about him, which isn't supposed to be the purpose.

coopercougar wrote: The blackout part of the Superbowl last night, the 34 minutes where nothing was happening except the people CBS pays to talk butchering the English language, drew a rating in the 40s. To put that in perspective, the most watched game of the World Series drew and 8.9, the most watched game of the NBA finals drew a 10.9, the Kentucky/Kansas Final Four game got a 12.3, the BCS title game drew a 15.1 and the Summer Olympic opening ceremony drew a 21.

In other words, more than four times as many people watched Shannon Sharpe set the spoken word back 500 years in a half dark Superdome than watched the World Series... more than twice as many when compared to the opening ceremonies. 30 minutes of half dark confusion is more popular than any other sport in this nation by a very wide margin.

va1bucksfan1 wrote:

ChiTownOSUnut wrote:

Although the playoff ratings will be huge as the games and importance of the regular season become the same why would a new fan choose to watch the lower level?

 
There will always be lots of people who prefer the passion of rooting for a local college team than a far flung pro team.

coopercougar wrote: Early reports are this was the highest rated game in history...

Early Super Bowl ratings set record

by James Hibberd

CBS Sports has released very preliminary numbers that say Super Bowl XLVII could be the most-watched game in history.

Sunday’s telecast of the Baltimore Ravens vs. San Francisco 49ers game had an overnight rating/share of 48.1/71 in metered markets.

That’s up 1 percent from last year’s N.Y. Giants vs. New England game, which was the most-watched game ever.

Ratings peaked at from 10:30-10:45 PM, ET. National ratings, including the big viewership total, will be released later today. The final numbers could shift slightly from these less reliable early figures, so stay tuned.

http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/02...-xlvii-ratings/

I know Colin Cowherd is not a favorite around here, but I love him.  I love him because he's detached, rational with a wild "don't give a damn" streak.  He's also right FAR more often than he's not.  You have to listen to what he says about the NFL and why it so successful because he's right.  The NFL is as popular as it is and only getting more popular because it is constantly evolving and changing.  You can't say that for any other sport.  Baseball is the same game it was 80 years ago which is why it has for decades been losing popularity among young people.  

Old guys bitch about what the NFL has become... more passing, less nasty hits, faster game, more spread out, etc., but that is exactly what is making the game more popular.  All these rule changes everyone is whining about now is very much changing the game of football and it's making it a better game to watch.  Bama vs. LSU, smash mouth football in the BCS title game was flat unwatchable.  Last night's Superbowl with two outstanding QBs, loads of great skill guys and talent was incredible.  That is modern football.  That is what a vast majority of people now days want to watch and that's why they are watching it in record numbers.  And in 20 years the NFL will have evolved again and it will look little like it does today and a large number of people will bitch about it, but even more will be tuning in and enjoying the one game that is constantly evolving.

Disagree with your premise.  It isn't so much modern "popular" football as it is the two best football teams in America going head to head.  That and it was close is what made it fun to watch.  Really has nothing to do with less big hits and the general pussification of the game.  In fact, I would argue that there were many call not made that were made all season.  A couple blatant helmet to helmets went uncalled as well as a ref being pushed.

Delreek wrote:

thugger wrote:
You have a good product.  The true football fan is getting turned off by all the party bs and music acts.  If you guys continue to fail to focus on football you are going to lose your core audience.  Once college football gets the heads out of the a$$es and gets a real postseason tournament the NFL might be as popular as the NBA.

The true football fan is not going anywhere so the nfl wants the casual fans in record numbers and that is what they are getting.

 Football is no longer just a sport it is an event and people want to be part of events and THAT IS WHERE THE MONEY IS.

If you believe what you say you beleive, start boycotting the nfl and encourage other hard core nfl fans to to the same.  We will all wait to see that.

Stratbuck wrote: 

Disagree with your premise.  It isn't so much modern "popular" football as it is the two best football teams in America going head to head.  That and it was close is what made it fun to watch.  Really has nothing to do with less big hits and the general pussification of the game.  In fact, I would argue that there were many call not made that were made all season.  A couple blatant helmet to helmets went uncalled as well as a ref being pushed.

thugger wrote:

Maybe I am getting old, but if I am forced this lame entertainment I would also rather see Circus O lay or Chris Angel  than another boring lip sync halftime show.  Why has music and dance become the only form of entertainment.  Hell, throw in the damm frisbee dogs.

coopercougar wrote:

Stratbuck wrote: 

Disagree with your premise.  It isn't so much modern "popular" football as it is the two best football teams in America going head to head.  That and it was close is what made it fun to watch.  Really has nothing to do with less big hits and the general pussification of the game.  In fact, I would argue that there were many call not made that were made all season.  A couple blatant helmet to helmets went uncalled as well as a ref being pushed.

That would be true if it were not for the fact that EVERY NFL game is huge.  Of the top 50 most watched sporting events in all of 2012, 34 were NFL games and that was in a year with the Summer Olympics.  The regular season game between the Steelers and Broncos played in early September attracted almost twice as many viewers as the most watched game of the World Series and almost 10 million more viewers than the most watched game of the NBA Finals. 

And the popularity of the league is only growing and the disparity between the NFL and all other sports is getting wider and wider.  And I'm not even talking the Superbowl or playoff games.  Regular season NFL games are blowing away the best any other sport has to offer.

Stratbuck wrote: 
NFL may be becoming "trendy," but I sure as hell am not near as interested as I was 10 years ago.  I guess I need to get back into a money fantasy league to to get interested again.

coopercougar wrote:

Stratbuck wrote: 
NFL may be becoming "trendy," but I sure as hell am not near as interested as I was 10 years ago.  I guess I need to get back into a money fantasy league to to get interested again.

The NFL knows that and the NFL doesn't care because they know you'll still watch some and for every fan like you that fades away, there are at least two who take your place. 

I've said this before, but as a game, the NFL is far more interesting to me than it ever has been because this is the style of football I grew up playing.  The stuff New England and New Orleans, Green Bay, Carolina, Washington, Seattle, etc are doing, we were doing in high school (albeit on a less sophisticated level).  Seeing the game become faster and more wide open is how I played it, it is the style I most enjoy watching at the college level and it's now coming into the NFL which is making the NFL much more watchable to me.

This is why the NFL continues to win over new, young fans.  The game is constantly evolving with the generations.  The older generations don't like it, but they still watch and the younger generations become more passionate.  No other sport can say that because no other sport lends itself to the kind of game evolution football does.