Super Bowl LIX could get ratings boost from Nielsen out-of-home viewership expansion

There’s some good news on the ratings front for Fox ahead of Super Bowl LIX.

Measurement company Nielsen announced Monday that they’ve expanded their tracking of out-of-home viewership to cover 100% of the U.S. population beginning in the February 2025 ratings period (which began on Jan. 27).

Last year, Nielsen’s out-of-home tracking only covered 66% of the U.S. population. Given both the way regularly tracking out-of-home viewership has particularly boosted sports and given the traditionally high amount of out-of-home viewership for the Super Bowl thanks to home parties and viewing at bars and restaurants, going from 66% coverage to full coverage could be a big deal for the Super Bowl viewership numbers (which will also include Nielsen’s recently-MRC-accredited Big Data+Panel numbers, which won praise from the NFL).

Here’s more on that expansion from a Nielsen release:

“Nielsen continues to innovate and adapt with our industry,” said Karthik Rao, Nielsen CEO. “We’re working hard every day to better capture what people are watching and where. The communal power of TV is undeniable and with this out-of-home expansion, we can more accurately provide the industry with the most-complete picture of the viewing audience.”

The OOH viewing audience is critical for sports and live event programming, as communal viewing in homes, bars, restaurants and hotels across the country is especially prevalent for marquee sports events. Nielsen is the only measurement provider positioned to accurately deliver both in and out of home measurement for live programming. Additionally, Nielsen’s people panel allows it to be the only company to most accurately measure diverse audiences.

The update ensures that Nielsen is representing all out-of-home viewing by people, including in more rural parts of the country. It is made possible by increased adoption of wearable devices for members of Nielsen’s persons panel, which was recently re-accredited.

Of course, there’s a high bar for Fox to clear in trying to set a record. Last year’s broadcast of Super Bowl LVIII between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers averaged 120 million viewers on CBS alone and 123.4 million across all English-language and Spanish-language platforms. That was a new record for any television broadcast.

We’ll see if the Chiefs’ bid for a three-peat (this time against the Philadelphia Eagles) can pass that. But it seems like it’s likely to get some help from these Nielsen measurement changes.