Super Bowl LVI most-watched game in five years

Super Bowl LVI was the most watched television show in five years and averaged 112.3 million viewers across all platforms, the NFL announced Tuesday.

The Los Angeles Rams defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 in Sunday's game.

In all, 101.1 million viewers watched the game on NBC and its Spanish-language sister, Telemundo. An additional 11.2 million people streamed the game, primarily on NBC's Peacock.

The total was the most since a viewership of 113.7 million for Super Bowl LI in 2017, when the New England Patriots defeated the Atlanta Falcons 34-28, the NFL said.

The 2021 Super Bowl between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Kansas City Chiefs drew an average of 96.4 million viewers on television for CBS.

"The Super Bowl once again delivered a massive audience, which included NBC and the unmatched power of broadcast television as well as first-ever presentations on Peacock and Telemundo, and led into our most-watched Olympics coverage in four years," said Mark Lazarus, chairman of NBCUniversal Television and Streaming said in a news release.

The Super Bowl halftime show, starring Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige and Kendrick Lamar, averaged 103.4 million viewers.

Among local markets, Cincinnati led the way in viewership with a 46.1 rating/84 share. That means 46.1 percent of all households in the market had the game turned on, and 84 percent of the people who were watching television at the time were watching the game.

Los Angeles had a 36.7/77 market share.

No. 2 on the list was Detroit, where Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford spent 12 seasons before an offseason trade sent him west. Detroit had a 45.9/79 share.

Two other metro areas in Ohio were in the ratings top 10 -- Columbus and Cleveland.