On Tuesday (May 2), Roc Nation took to social media to announce that, after revised reports from Nielsen, Rihanna‘s 2023 Super Bowl halftime show is officially the most watched in history. In addition, the actual game received a huge update of its own.
As reported by The Associated Press, Rihanna’s figures increased from 118.7 million to 121.017 million viewers overall. Her performance — which also served as the singer-mogul’s pregnancy announcement — was filled with live renditions of chart-toppers like “Only Girl (In The World),” “We Found Love,” “S&M,” “Rude Boy,” and “Work.” The previous record of 121 million was set by Katy Perry, who’s halftime show alongside Lenny Kravitz and Missy Elliott took place during Super Bowl XLIX in 2015.
Meanwhile, the Kansas City Chiefs’ 38-35 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles jumped from 113.1 million to 115.1 million viewers, supplanting Super Bowl XLIX — when the New England Patriots’ win over the Seattle Seahawks generated 114.4 million.
The initial review that led to the corrections took place after the NFL Network was credited with over 1 million viewers during the Super Bowl — their usual number was said to be 80,000. Additional errors in out-of-home measurements were revealed in a subsequent evaluation. Fox Sports executive vice president and head of strategy and analytics Michael Mulvihill released a statement in regard to the news.
“I really appreciate their diligence in conducting the review and coming to the most correct number possible,” he said. “Super Bowl Sunday is the most difficult day for them, because you have not just the scale, but people are watching on English and Spanish, in and out of home, [and] online, and all of that has to be stitched together into a credible number. I give them credit for acknowledging the issue, being transparent about it, and get to the most correct number they can get to.”