App users nearly tied viewers during Super Bowl
updated 03:30 pm EST, Wed February 8, 2012
Super Bowl app usage tracked, analyzed by Flurry
Flurry has tracked the amount of app users on their smart devices over the course of Super Bowl XLVI and found that nearly 98 million users accessed apps, compared to 111 million of those who watched it on the big screen. They went on to conclude that the app users, or those who turned on the "second screen," were largely overlapping, though both metrics set records. The TV numbers were borrowed from Nielsen.
Some advertisers respected the presence of the second screen, and thus tailored their commercials to cater to them. This included QR codes which app users could take a photo of and get more information on. The half-time show that featured Madonna made users put their devices down, with the numbers lowest for the longest period during this time.
The analysis also separated men from women, finding the latter to have 62 percent of app usage throughout the game. Women also paid more attention to ads, on average, and used them more often during the game.
The numbers give an idea about the perceived effectiveness of an ad depending on the app usage during the time it's airing. These could be an indicator of what Internet-aware TV makers can expect with their products, though the advertising model would have to be different in these cases.
