Photo: Mary Kouw/CBS
The Taylor Swift Effect is a real thing. Don’t believe me? Well, yesterday’s Super Bowl was watched by over 120 million people on CBS. That makes it the most-watched telecast in television history on a single network.
Here is the breakdown that CBS Sports sent out in a press release:
RECORD-SETTING VIEWERSHIP
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Super Bowl LVIII is the most-watched program ever, averaging 123.4 million viewers across all platforms, up +7% vs. last year’s Super Bowl which was the previous record (115.1 million).
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More than 200 million viewers (202.4) watched all or part of Super Bowl LVIII across networks, the highest unduplicated total audience in history and up +10% vs. last year’s Super Bowl (184 million).
CBS LEADS THE WAY WITH LARGEST AUDIENCE EVER FOR SINGLE NETWORK
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Super Bowl LVIII on CBS led the way with 120.0 million viewers, the largest audience in history for a single network.
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Super Bowl LVIII capped off a record-setting season for CBS Sports. The NFL ON CBS scored the most-watched regular season since the NFL returned to CBS in 1998 as well as the Network’s best postseason viewership since 1998.
Those numbers are astounding. And CBS needs to pay Swift a bonus because she is a large part of those numbers. Cause let’s be real. The people who helped to break that record were not tuning in to watch the Kansas Chiefs play the San Fransisco 49ers or Usher. They were tuning in for the singer!
I watch the big game every year for the commercials. Others watch for the actual game. And some for the halftime show. However, yesterday, first-timers were checking out because she introduced them to a game that their fathers watched.
And that is amazing! Swift is bringing families together! My friendship bracelet is off to her.
UPDATE: Tracker starring Justin Hartley, which aired after the game, scored a touchdown with 18.4 million viewers and is expected to gain another 7 million by its next episode on Sunday.
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert was seen by 3.74 people.
And finally, CBS took the cake with this spin. @fter Midnight scored its most-watched episode ever with 2.03 million viewers. Why is that such a hard sell? The show has only been on since January 16th, and it airs at 12:35a. So it ain’t ever going to see those numbers again.
