Today’s newspapers and internet headlines scream the score of last night’s game and point me to repositories of the advertisements to watch. Considering I didn’t follow pro football all season, why be an ignoramus and pay attention at the final hour? No thanks, not my style. I spent the day out of town instead and had an enjoyable evening.
My sentiments are not alone as scores of people sent Twitter updates throughout the night that they weren’t watching the game either.
Despite our indulgences in other pursuits, over 51 million American households tuned into the CBS broadcast, says Nielsen. Inclusive of DVR playback after the fact, 106.5 million Americans watched the game and defined TV history — making Super Bowl XLIV the most watched television program, surpassing 1983′s M.A.S.H. finale, which previously held the record.
Think about that for a moment. More Americans — let alone people around the world picking up satellite broadcasts or watching online — preferred to tune into a television program than use the web. I grant you that socialization in person is more important than socializing online, but when a mere 12% of the Super Bowl audience watched the game while Facebooking their friends, maybe TV’s not as prone to doom as pundits predict?
If the web is not taking people away from broadcast media, then which has a higher chance of survival? Or, is the reason for my question because people are not ready to cash in on their TVs for computing experiences?
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{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
I am amazed….. that until yesterday the most popular TV show was the last episode of MASH. Thank heavens.
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…in the U.S., anyway. I wonder what other countries rank.
Hi Ari. I think the Super Bowl is one of those rare (the rarest?) events on TV that ‘everyone’ watches, even if they aren’t football fans. Many people watch just for the commercials.
And I wonder how social media affected the audience? My guess is it probably boosted it a bit, watching the Super Bowl was much more enjoyable while watching the Twitter commentary at the same time!
I wonder how many households had two TVs in front of them: one tuned to CBS and one connected to their computer showing social networking updates.
Yes, or maybe watching the television while using their cellular phone for social networking. I noticed most Superbowl posts I read were people updating through mobile applications like iPhone.
If someone is social networking while watching TV, what percentage were doing it from a party or watching alone?
Ari, this is a great piece reminding everyone of the power of television’s reach. The Super Bowl is one of those few televised events that can draw such big audiences at once. Network television shows are glad if they can generate audiences of 5 – 10 Million people these days which represents less than the 12 % of the people on social networks during the game.
For me, the question is not about TV winning one night. The question is how do television and online become better integrated over time – the winning formula lies there.
And as for me, I enjoyed the game and the commercials. Actually I metered 55 of them and none of them promoted social media integration. 18 of them did point to a company URL, with another 12 pointing to a product page URL. The surprising thing is that 17 of the 55 had no web tag at the ad end. From my perspective, that was a missed opportunity given how much the commercials wind up getting re-watched over and over online.
I was shocked to hear how well the Super Bowl ratings were. Not a very sexy matchup, nor much excitement or controversy to reel in even the fair-weather NFL fans. Perhaps it was the feel-good story of New Orleans or the fact that the two best teams (per record) actually made it to the big game. Regardless, the game was well played, a hit. The commercials, dull and unintriguing. Yet, I found it interesting to see that while Pepsi bowed out of SB advertising (for social media), Google actually aired a TV spot.
P.S.: And to your point, I was one of those who was real-time Facebook-ing during the game to connect with friends who weren’t on the couch with me.
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Do you mind expanding why the commercials were “dull and unintriguing?”
Hmmm,
if watching the Super Bowl is an event where people are engaging with others (at parties, etc, gathered around a TV), it’s interesting to note the need for others geographically dispersed to be creating a community of their own around #notwatchingsuperbowl.
I don’t think you can call it a competition between the tv and social media, however, given the broad overlap of those watching and engaging with social media.
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I wonder what percentage watched the live action on a TV vs a computer via the web.