CBS Sports Chair Sean McManus declined to predict a rating for Super Bowl LIII, but network execs said the live stream of the game is poised to post another double-digit percentage increase in audience size and once again set a new record for digital viewership of the event. Super Bowl LII on NBC last February generated an average minute audience of 2.02 million viewers and a peak of 3.1 million concurrent streams, continuing a steady pattern of growth since live Super Bowl digital streams began in '12. CBS Sports Digital Exec VP & GM Jeff Gerttula: “There has been a very consistent trend of double-digit growth I would expect to continue this time around. We particularly expect to see further lift from connected TV platforms and on mobile."
Super Bowl LIII extends a significantly widened digital distribution that began last year in which the game will be made available to all connected devices through NFL, Verizon Media Group and CBS platforms, including the CBS All Access OTT service. CBS’ live stream of the game also will be joined by a wide range of ancillary programming on its CBS Sports HQ streaming network. Gerttula said the net has undertaken a wide range of internal preparations to minimize latency in the digital feed from real time play, annually one of the most frequent complaints surrounding the Super Bowl stream. “We’re really at the bleeding edge of what the Internet can handle in terms of a live event when it comes to the Super Bowl,” he said. “But we’re doing everything we can to minimize that lag.”
