Ratings: Super Bowl 50, ‘Late Show with Stephen Colbert’ numbers as huge as expected
While there were some early ratings estimates out there regarding the performance of Super Bowl 50 as a whole early Monday, this was a case where we wanted to wait for some of the official data to come in to render a verdict on the big game one way or another.
In the end, the game between the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos will have to settle for being among the most-watched TV events ever, but not necessarily the #1 spot.It had in total 111.9 million viewers, which is down from the 114.4 million who caught the game the year before, and also the 112.2 million who watched in 2014. There are three easy guesses as to why the viewers decreased a little bit on the night.
1. It was a low-scoring game. Most viewers want to see people scoring touchdowns and crazy things happening, and Broncos are a team these days known almost entirely for their defense.
2. It was not an extremely-close game. While it can be said that the Panthers were almost always in striking distance, you never got a whole lot of confidence in watching the game that they were actually going to be able to strike.
3. Streams for the game were provided for free on CBS Sports and other internet channels, with many of them even including the same commercials. We’re not sure how many of those numbers are being properly tabulated at the moment.
For those wondering, “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” scored an average of 21.1 million viewers and an 8.4 rating in the 18-49 demographic. This is down when compared to “The Blacklist” last year, but up from the last time CBS had the game and they aired “Elementary.” In the end, there’s almost no evidence that getting this ratings bump helps a show in the long-run, so Stephen should just be grateful for having it in the first place.
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