Super Bowl viewers appeared to tune out in noticeable numbers during Bad Bunny’s halftime show, according to new quarter-hour ratings from Nielsen.
Viewership peaked at 137.9 million viewers between 7:45 and 7:59 p.m. ET, with 134.3 million watching on NBC and 3.6 million on Telemundo. In the next quarter-hour, from 8:00 to 8:14 p.m., the audience dipped slightly to 135.9 million.
By 8:15 to 8:29 p.m. ET, the window that included Bad Bunny’s halftime performance, viewership fell to 128.2 million. That figure included 123.4 million on NBC and 4.8 million on Telemundo.
The halftime drop represents a 7% decline from the game’s peak audience in the second quarter and a 5.7% decrease from the immediately preceding quarter-hour.
Bad Bunny’s set was performed entirely in Spanish. While total viewership fell, Telemundo saw an increase during the performance, rising from 3.8 million viewers in the prior quarter-hour to 4.8 million.
Historically, Super Bowl audiences often grow from the end of the second quarter into halftime. Last year, however, Kendrick Lamar’s performance also saw a ratings dip of roughly 4% compared to the end-of-game action heading into the break.
Bad Bunny is widely regarded as one of the most popular recording artists in the world, often mentioned alongside Taylor Swift in global streaming and touring conversations. But his selection drew criticism from conservative audiences in the lead-up to the game.
Bad Bunny lost the most viewership from the second quarter to a halftime performance in the history of the Super Bowl. (Halftime viewership typically grows, he lost ten million viewers on NBC). This is a disaster for the NFL, but most left wing sports media won’t cover it.
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) February 11, 2026
President Donald Trump publicly criticized the NFL for booking the Puerto Rican artist. Meanwhile, Turning Point USA hosted an alternative halftime show headlined by Kid Rock. Organizers said the livestream peaked at more than five million concurrent viewers across YouTube and Rumble platforms, a figure they noted does not account for multiple viewers watching on a single screen.
The Super Bowl halftime show is coordinated by Apple, Jay-Z’s Roc Nation and the NFL.
Context may also have played a role in the ratings slide. Both this year’s game and last year’s contest featured two-score leads at halftime, and viewers are typically more inclined to stay tuned when the score is close.
Despite the halftime dip, the NFL said Bad Bunny’s performance set social media records, generating more than 4 billion views within 24 hours.
Super Bowl LX averaged 124.9 million viewers overall, making it the second-most-watched Super Bowl on record, though down 2% from last year. The game’s peak audience, however, set an all-time high.
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