1. Super Bowl XLVI: Record Viewership, not Record Ratings
111.3 million viewers, but still trails behind Super Bowl XX in ratings!
Another record was set making this an unbelievable, three-year streak of the big game bringing in the most viewers of any TV program in history. In 2011, 111 million viewers watched Green Bay take on the Steelers. This year, with a very slight increase, 111.3 million viewers watched the Giants skim past the Patriots in the last minutes of the game.
But hold on, was it the highest rated Super Bowl in history? The answer is no! Though it’s been the best viewership we’ve seen in 26 years, it was out-rated by Super Bowl XX when the Chicago Bears stomped on none other than the New England Patriots as well as four other games in history. Ratings are a measure of the number of households with their radio/TV sets tuned to a particular program for a specified length of time divided by the total number of households that have the potential to watch that program. So even though viewership was up, rating were not record breaking.
2. Social Media named MVP of the Super Bowl
12.2 million comments during the game, 578% increase over 2011.
Many say the commercials are the hottest item of the big game; however, social media is making its way to the top! The number of tweets and posts were off the charts during the big game on Sunday. Here are some stats from
AdAge.
• More than 12.2 million comments were made during and after the big game, mainly on Twitter and Facebook, which is a 578% increase over last year.
• In the final three minutes of the game, the total tweet volume came in at an average of 10,000 tweets per second.
• More than 862,000 comments flooded social networks during the halftime show.
Blue Fins’ Tom Thai said, “If the halftime show were its own standalone televised event, it would rank fourth in terms of all-time social-TV events for entertainment. It would trail only the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards, the 2011 American Music Awards and the 2011 Academy Awards.”
• More than 985,000 social media comments about the game’s commercials were tracked.
3. Netflix Streaming Drops TV Ratings
Netflix users streamed over 2 billion hours in Q4 2011. TV ratings feel the hit.
Many TV and cable shows are now streaming episodes on Netflix. Netflix users streamed over 2 billion hours in fourth quarter 2011 alone. Add Hulu into the mix and it becomes more uncertain how many people are watching shows during their regularly scheduled times. But how much have the networks hurt themselves by allowing shows to stream online? In an article posted on
AdAge, the speculation is that Netflix is taking a bite out of TV ratings.
Nickelodeon’s ratings have taken a tumble during the fourth quarter. Networks make their money through advertisers purchasing spots during their shows, and if ratings disappear, advertisers will demand a lower price or cease buying at all. Only time will tell if networks such as Nickelodeon will continue to allow Netflix streaming of their episodes or if they cut off streaming to give their ratings a boost.
4. Smartphones Outsell PCs in 2011
487.7 million smartphones vs. 414.6 million PC’s. 63% growth in smartphones over 2010.
Smartphone shipments overtook personal computers sales including tablets, laptops, netbooks and desktops for the first time in 2011, according to an article on
www.computerworld.com. 487.7 million smartphones were shipped globally compared to 414.6 million PCs; a growth of over 63% over 2010. A slowing demand for laptops, desktops and netbooks is to blame for the drop. Tablets sales are on the rise as well, but it isn’t having an adverse effect on smartphones sales.
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