The Nielsen Company released an analysis of ad trends from Super Bowl XLII, which was viewed by an average audience of 97.5 million people in the U.S., more than any previous Super Bowl. Among all programs, it was the second highest-viewed of all time. In terms of total audience, 148.3 million watched at least 6 minutes of the game, making it the Super Bowl with the largest reach (unduplicated audience) ever. Locally, Boston had the #1 Metered Market performance with a 55.6 HH rtg. New York was #32 with a 44.9 HH rtg.
The highest rated commercial minute was the Victoria’s Secret commercial at 9:44 p.m., which was seen by 103.7 million people. Among Super Bowl advertisers, the fastest growing website was Fox Interactive Media’s MySpace.com/SuperBowlAds, increasing 104% from 441,000 to 900,000 unique visitors.
This year’s Super Bowl aired 50 minutes and 50 seconds of commercial time. 52 unique brands aired commercials that competed for viewers’ attention for a total of 84 ads.
Almost 4.2 million people watched the Chronicles of Narnia Prince Caspian movie promo seen at 7:46 PM via DVR playback. During the game, all of the most played-back commercials appeared between 7:18 p.m. and 7:50 p.m.
Super Bowl XLII also drew large numbers of ethnic viewers. Ratings for African-American Persons 2+ were up 4% over 2007. Hispanic and Asian viewers drew an 18.0 and 21.8 rating among Persons 2+, respectively.
The big game did exceptionally well in upscale households with Persons 2+ in homes with an income of 100,000+ indexing 24% higher than the total US audience. In terms of education, those households of Persons 2+ with 4+ years of College indexed 14% higher than the total US audience.
Within DVR households, Super Bowl XLII averaged a 39.8 rating among Persons 2+ — 17% higher than the total US audience.
In HD capable/receivable households, the game averaged a 47.6 rating among Persons 2+ — a 40% increase over the total US audience. Within homes with Internet access, Super Bowl XLII averaged a 36.7 rating among Persons 2+ — 8% higher than the total US audience.
This year more than ever, Super Bowl advertisers focused on driving Web traffic with their premium TV spots. In turn, the Web is dramatically increasing the longevity of Super Bowl ads, with the rise of social networking and video sharing sites.
Among Super Bowl advertisers, the fastest growing website from Super Bowl Sunday to Monday was Fox Interactive Media’s MySpace.com/SuperBowlAds, increasing 104% from 441,000 to 900,000 unique visitors. Victoria’s Secret and FOX Sports on MSN also saw significant daily gains, growing 86% and 72%, respectively. Among Super Bowl advertisers collectively, the Web traffic increase from Sunday to Monday was 24%.
A handful of advertisers did not have reportable Web traffic on Sunday, but saw a bump on Monday, including FedEx, E*Trade and Sprint.
