Last night’s Super Bowl was certainly suspense-free — it resulted in the biggest blowout in more than 20 years — but America didn’t feel a strong need to change the channel: Even though viewership was down from last year, the broadcast still ranked as the fifth most-watched Super Bowl game ever.
TV by the Numbers predicts that the Seahawks’ 43-8 victory over the Denver Broncos drew in 96.88 million viewers. More accurate figures will be available later Monday, but that’s not terribly far off from the 2013 Super Bowl, which notched 108.6 viewers.
The top markets of the game were Kansas City and Seattle, although game host New York City had its highest Super Bowl ratings since 1997.
As for an explanation for the decline from last year? Blame the lack of Beyoncé.
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