The Kansas City Chiefs have been ratings gold on ºüÀêÊÓƵ television this season, and KMOV is the big luck-of-the-draw winner in the city’s TV Super Bowl sweepstakes.
Not only is Channel 4 the local affiliate of CBS, which is showing the game this time — annually the most-watched TV program of the year — but it has hit a double jackpot by having Kansas City as the AFC’s representative. After the Chiefs amassed huge local viewership numbers in the regular season, far surpassing anything the Cardinals, Blues or Mizzou drew over the past year, ºüÀêÊÓƵ was in the top 10 in the entire country for both Chiefs playoff games that have been shown on “regular†TV (the other was exclusively streamed nationally outside of the markets of the teams in the game).
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ºüÀêÊÓƵ Super Bowl ratings
Year | Score | Rating |
---|---|---|
2023 | Kansas City 38, Philadelphia 35 | 41.1 |
2022 | LA Rams 23, Cincinnati 20 | 39.9 |
2021 | Tampa Bay 31, Kansas City 9 | 42.3 |
2020 | Kansas City 31, San Francisco 20 | 46.6 |
2019 | New England 13, LA Rams 3 | 39.9 |
2018 | Philadelphia 41, New England 33 | 41.6 |
2017 | New England 34, Atlanta 28 | 47.0 |
2016 | Denver 24, Carolina 10 | 48.5 |
2015 | New England 28, Seattle 24 | 43.8 |
2014 | Seattle 43, Denver 8 | 46.3 |
Channel 4 general manager JD Sosnoff had a succinct answer when asked if the station has sold out its allotment of advertising for the game, in which KC faces the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday in Las Vegas with a 5:30 p.m. (ºüÀêÊÓƵ time) kickoff scheduled.
“Oh heck yes!†he said.
“Our demand (for ad time) and revenue around it never have been better. It helps to have such a great following with the Chiefs.â€
This will be KC’s fourth Super Bowl appearance in the past five years, and they all have drawn massive ºüÀêÊÓƵ TV audiences, although decreasing slightly. Nielsen, which tabulates viewership, says 46.6% watched in 2020, with the figure decreasing to 42.3% the next year and 41.1% last year.
But given the Chiefs’ domination of ºüÀêÊÓƵ television this season, an upswing this time would not be surprising.
“I certainly think that it will meet or exceed last year’s numbers ... based on what we’ve seen them doing in ºüÀêÊÓƵ all year long,†Sosnoff said.
KMOX shut out
KMOX (1120) was on the Chiefs radio network this season, but because of NFL radio broadcast regulations, the venerable ºüÀêÊÓƵ station is unable to carry the Super Bowl. Only Westwood One’s national production, on WXOS (101.1 FM), will air locally
There are ºüÀêÊÓƵ ties in that broadcast booth. Kevin Harlan, who lived near Grant’s Farm until his family moved to Wisconsin when he was 10, does the play-by-play. He’ll be alongside analyst Kurt Warner, the quarterback of the Rams in their storybook run to the Super Bowl title for the 1999 season when they were based in the Gateway City. Also on that coverage are reporters Laura Okmin and Mike Golic and rules analyst Dean Blandino.
Super stream? Not yet
Many sporting events have gone the streaming-only route, as the NFL did with that Chiefs first-round playoff game and with “Thursday Night Football†for the past two seasons.
Though Sunday’s game will also be , commissioner Roger Goodell said the event is not leaving over-the-air television any time soon.
“Certainly not in my time,†Goodell said this week at his annual Super Bowl news conference. “One of the secrets of our success is we are really committed to broadcast television. Ninety percent of our games are on broadcast television.
“I think it’s the reason why you will see (more than 100 million) people watch this game here in the United States, because it’s on broadcast television and the broadest possible platform.
“We’ll see Super Bowl continue to be on the broadest possible platform, and I think we’ll continue to see the NFL (in general for the most part) on the broadest possible platform.â€
Goodell’s contract runs through March 2027, but the NFL’s commitment to broadcast television runs much longer. Its deals with the networks extend through the 2033 season.