The number of American households who tuned in to watch some or all of Fox’s presentation of Super Bowl LIX was around 3 million fewer than what the television network claimed, according to conflicting data offered by iSpot earlier this week.
The average minute audience across Fox, Tubi and other platforms was 124.3 million, iSpot said, which accounted for both in-home and out-of-home viewing of the National Football League (NFL) championship game.
The number is lower than the average audience of 127.7 million viewers that watched some or all of Super Bowl LIX, according to Fox Sports. Fox also claimed the Super Bowl LIX peaked with around 137.7 million viewers; iSpot put that peak audience count closer to 134.4 million.
Fox used a combination of data from Nielsen, Adobe Analytics and first-party measurement collection for its viewership count. iSpot measures the effectiveness of commercial spots airing on traditional and connected TV using proprietary methods.
It wasn’t clear why iSpot’s viewership figures for Super Bowl LIX differed from those offered by Fox earlier in the week. A spokesperson for iSpot has not yet returned a request for clarity on the matter.
The conflicting data highlights the various discrepancies in measuring audiences across platforms. iSpot says it has exclusive access to 83 million smart TVs and set-top boxes, as well as direct integrations with over 400 streaming platforms. Nielsen relies on a combination of television panels and opt-in data from connected TV services, among other methods, to evaluate viewership trends across channels and platforms. Adobe Analytics primarily evaluates streaming platforms through its Adobe Streaming Media Collection product.
