Las Vegas draws 53.4 share in third-highest-rated Super Bowl
In the third-highest-rated Super Bowl, Las Vegas ranked 13th.
Sunday night's Super Bowl 50 ranked as the third-highest-rated Super Bowl in history, according to Nielsen ratings data.
The game, which saw the Denver Broncos win a defensive battle over the Carolina Panthers 24-10, averaged 111.9 million TV viewers. It averaged a 49.0 rating, meaning 49 percent of American homes with TV sets had the game turned on. Last year's record rating was a smidge higher — 49.7. The share — the percentage of TVs turned on — was a 73.
According to KLAS-8, Las Vegas had a 53.4 household rating and a 77 share, ranking 13th, one spot behind Denver (53.4, 82).
In Denver, the game drew a 53.9 rating and an 82 share. It's the highest-rated Super Bowl in the Denver market since 1995. Charlotte, N.C., had a 55.9 overnight rating.
Nashville, Tenn. (57.7); Albuquerque, N.M. (56.9); Norfolk, Va. (56.8); Greensboro, N.C. (56.7) and Greenville, N.C. (56.6) were the highest-rated markets.
This number was a decline from last year's record viewership of 114.4 million people on NBC. The Super Bowl in 2014 had the second largest viewership with an average audience of 112.2 million.
The peak of this year's game came from 5:30-6 p.m. PT, when an average of 115.5 million people tuned in. This was during the halftime show that starred Coldplay, Beyoncé and Bruno Mars.
The actual number of people who watched Sunday's game is undoubtedly larger. Nielsen's total doesn't count out-of-home viewing, which includes fans who watched via viewing parties at bars and restaurants.
Internet streaming of Super Bowl is not counted, either. CBS made the game widely available on tablets, computers and streaming boxes like Apple TV. While there were some sporadic glitches, most people were able to stream the game without any problems.
CBS set a new Super Bowl streaming record with an average of 1.4 million viewers per minute, a notable but unsurprising accomplishment, given that streaming is becoming more popular each year. Last year's Super Bowl streaming audience on NBC was 800,000 viewers per minute.
CNN contributed to this report.
