Super Bowl Preview Growing Crowds For TV And Web Ads

Last year’s matchup between the Patriots and the Giants was viewed by a record 97.5 million people in the U.S. As expected, the Super Bowl was the most-watched TV broadcast in 2008. Networks broadcasting the Super Bowl often use the game as a lead-in for one of their regular shows. This year, NBC will broadcast a one-hour episode of The Office. Last year, 29.1 million viewers stuck around after the game to watch an episode of House on FOX.

Year	Super Bowl Avg. viewers in millions	Show After Game Avg. viewers in millions
2008	FOX – 97.5	House – 29.1
2007	CBS – 93.1	Criminal Minds – 26.1
2006	ABC – 90.7	Grey’s Anatomy – 21.0
2005	FOX – 86.1	The Simpsons – 23.1
2004	CBS – 89.8	Survivor All-Stars – 33.5
© 2009 The Nielsen Company

The TV To Web Handoff

Additionally, Super Bowl advertisers saw a 24 percent jump in Web traffic the day after last year’s Super Bowl. The Pepsi commercial featuring Justin Timberlake gathered the most Internet buzz. One-third of online conversations about the Super Bowl the day of and the day after last year’s game were driven by Super Bowl advertising. The most-discussed ad online with 6.7% buzz volume was Pepsi’s spot with Timberlake, followed by the E*TRADE baby ad (5.2%) and Audi’s “Godfather” spoof (4.4%).