Don’t Believe The Hype

It’s nice that a lot of people watched the Super Bowl on Sunday.  In fact, there are a ton of reports out about how it was “the most watched event in TV history.”  I’m sure that’s true, or as true anything that comes out of the very imperfect system of TV ratings can be.  This piece from Media Post is typical of the reporting that’s out there.  Most of them would lead the typical reader to believe that this game set all kinds of viewing records.  Well, in terms of raw numbers of people viewing, it did.  But how about a little perspective as a good lesson in how you need to read carefully.

The Super Bowl drew about a 45 rating this year.  What that means is that 45% of homes were watching on average during any 15 minute block of the game.  Hmm, you say, not even half the homes at once.  Correct.   As someone who grew up in the TV business and TV sports in particular, I should hesitate to add that there is a ton of unmeasured viewing for something like this – bars, hotels, etc.  They’re not in the ratings.  However, you get the point.

In fact, this wasn’t even the highest-rated Super Bowl.  Sunday’s game didn’t come close to the record Super Bowl rating of 49.1 — translating to 49.1% of U.S. households — for the San Francisco 49ers–Cincinnati Bengals in 1982.  Record?

A little more perspective.  When Elvis was on the Ed Sullivan Show, he drew an 82.6 rating.  When Lucy had Little Ricky on I Love Lucy, she drew a 71.7 rating.   So the Super Bowl is a smaller percentage of a much bigger universe. Technically, the most watched but we can discuss how broad that interest was.

Just thought I’d provide a little perspective since I know you count on me for that!  Thoughts? Change your thinking on all the reports?