Fox’s Super Bowl Ratings Get Better When You Count Bars, Parties
Fox’s Super Bowl Ratings Get Better When You Count Bars, Parties
(Bloomberg) -- More than 100 million people watched the Super Bowl on Fox, a small increase over last year’s ratings. But tens of millions more watched at bars or at a friend’s house, boosting the total viewership by 13%.
That share of out-of-home viewership was slightly better than what the network got for its regular-season NFL Sunday broadcasts, which saw a roughly 12% bump, according to Fox, which cited research by Nielsen.
Measuring the audience that watches on someone else’s screen is increasingly important to networks as they vie for advertising dollars. A 30-second Super Bowl commercial cost as much as $5.6 million this year, and Fox wants to assure advertisers that they’re getting their money’s worth.
It’s also valuable to professional sports leagues that sell the rights to broadcast their games for billions of dollars, in some cases as their audiences are in decline. NFL ratings rose this past season, ending a slide in recent years.
According to Fox, 100.4 million people watched the Feb. 2 Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers. The Chiefs won, 31-20, rallying from behind with 21 straight fourth-quarter points. Those watching in bars and out-of-home locales totaled 13 million, Fox said.
The out-of-home increase for Thanksgiving games is about 20%, said Mike Mulvihill, head of strategy and analytics at Fox Sports.
It currently takes a while for networks to get the out-of-home data. But by next season, Fox expects to have the information just a day or two after the event is broadcast.
“We’re always looking for more complete, more accurate measurement,” Mulvihill said. “It’s going to benefit advertisers, who are getting a better representation of what they’re paying for.”
Among 18- to 34-year-olds, a demographic coveted by advertisers, out-of-home viewing boosted the audience by 19%, Fox said.
It was Fox’s first Super bowl since Rupert Murdoch sold the Fox movie studio and other entertainment assets to Walt Disney Co. last year for $71 billion. The remaining company, now called Fox Corp., is pinning its future on live sports like the NFL, along with news and events.
The NFL will soon begin negotiations on new broadcast contracts that start with the 2023 season. Those are critical talks for Fox, which spends about $1.7 billion a year on NFL rights.
To contact the reporter on this story: Scott Soshnick in New York at ssoshnick@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net, John J. Edwards III
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