Super Bowl viewership dropped to its lowest level since 2009, declining for the fourth consecutive year since setting a record in 2015, according to preliminary figures released Monday by Nielsen.
CBS’ coverage of the Los Angeles Rams’ 13-3 loss to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LIII on Sunday averaged 100.7 million viewers on all platforms.
The figure does not include out-of-home viewing.
Viewership was down 2.6 percent from the preliminary figures for NBC’s coverage of the Philadelphia Eagles’ 41-33 victory over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII, which averaged 103.4 million viewers. The viewership figure grew to 118.2 million when out-of-home viewing was added in.
A record average of 2.6 million viewers watched Super Bowl LIII’s live stream, a 28 percent increase over the previous record of 2.02 million set last year.
Super Bowl LIII, the lowest-scoring Super Bowl, was the most-watched Super Bowl on the CBS stations in both competing markets, KCBS in Los Angeles and WBZ in Boston.
Super Bowls set U.S. television viewership records five times in six years beginning in 2010, topping at 114.442 million for the Patriots’ 28-24 victory over the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX in 2015 on NBC.
Viewership began declining after that, with CBS’ telecast of the Denver Broncos’ 24-10 victory over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50 in 2016, which averaged 111.864 million viewers.
Viewership for most forms of programming has dropped in recent years, in part because of increased viewership of streaming programming. An exception to that trend was the NFL, for which viewership in all day parts was higher in the 2018 season than 2017.
The premiere of the talent show “The World’s Best” that followed postgame coverage averaged 22.22 million viewers, CBS’ most-watched post-Super Bowl show, and the most-watched series premiere on any network since the premiere of the alternative series “Undercover Boss” on CBS on Feb. 7, 2010, following Super Bowl XLIV.
NBC’s post-Super Bowl program in 2018, an episode of the drama “This Is Us,” averaged 27.0 million viewers, the most-watched post-Super Bowl telecast since 2012 when an episode of NBC’s singing competition “The Voice” averaged 37.61 million viewers.
Final ratings figures are scheduled to be released Tuesday, but are expected to be similar to Monday’s figures.