Minority viewership drives record-breaking Super Bowl XLIV.

Nielsen demographic data reveals that significant gains in minority viewership were contributing factors to Sunday’s record audience of 106.5 million Super Bowl viewers.

Hispanic outreach has been a focus of the NFL’s marketing strategy, and it may be paying off. Hispanic household ratings were up 9%. About 8.3 million viewers (44% of them female) in U.S. Hispanic households saw the game.

African American household viewership was up 4%, as 11.2 million viewers (48% female) within black households tuned in to watch.

Nielsen also found that higher-income households were more likely to tune in to Super Bowl XLIV. A whopping 74% of $500K+ homes tuned in to the game, compared to 45% of all households. And with each step down the income ladder, viewership declined, with households that bring in $10K or less averaging a 30.5% household rating.

The Super Bowl continues to skew to male viewers, with men representing almost 55% of viewers. Nevertheless, an estimated 48.5 million females watched the game, up 4.3 million from last year’s contest. Over the last five years, the total number of females watching the game has climbed 17%. Meanwhile, an estimated 58 million men watched the Super Bowl, up 3.5 million year-over-year.

A look at age/gender demographics showed that viewers of both genders exhibited a similar viewing arc: generally, the older the viewer, the more likely they tuned into the game.

And one final note that might interest pet owners (and pet product advertisers!): viewers who own a dog or cat had 18% higher Super Bowl ratings than those with no dog or cat.

Courtesy of http://www.nielsen.com