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The Super Bowl match-up between the New England Patriots and the Los Angeles Rams was considered boring and the ratings reflected that as TV viewership dropped to its lowest level in a decade.
Ratings are projected to fall below 100 million for the first time since 2009 and down about 5 percent year over year.
Atlanta brought in a 49.1 rating, up from 47.1 a year ago. The fact the game was based here clearly contributed to the rise. Atlanta was ranked 7th out of 56 metered markets compared to 29th a year ago.
The New Orleans market, where there was the widespread talk of a boycott of the Super Bowl following a botched missed ref call that contributed to the Saints’ loss, saw ratings fall by more than half from a year earlier to just 26.1 rating. Last year, New Orleans drew a 53.
That 26.1 was the worst of all markets measured by Nielsen meters and is far below the 44.9 percent average. (That means 44.9 percent of household TV had the Big Game on.)
Boston drew a 57.4 and Los Angeles a 44.6, actually, below average and reflective of the fact the Rams just moved back there.
Streaming totals have yet to be released. Last year, streaming added about 2.6 million to the total.
While we will need to see total viewership numbers later in the day for full context, the early returns are not looking good for CBS.
