Tyler Farnsworth
@tylerfarnsworth
The TPUSA counter-programming “halftime show” is a MUCH bigger deal than most people realize… and it should have NBC and every legacy media exec very, very nervous.
Because tonight, the Rubicon got crossed on the most expensive advertising real estate in the world.
There is no un-ringing this bell.
I’ve spent the last 15 years in advertising. I’ve worked on multiple Super Bowl campaigns. And the numbers I saw tonight should put the fear of God into anyone whose business model depends on the Super Bowl being an unchallenged monoculture moment...regardless of where you land politically.
NBC proudly announced that demand pushed a 30-second Super Bowl spot to an eye-watering $10 million… plus a mandatory $10 million in matching spend across the NBC media umbrella. Brands are paying $20 million to sit inside the “biggest moment in media.”
Nielsen reported the 2025 Super Bowl averaged 127.7 million live viewers across roughly 50 million households.
Final numbers are still pending, but early estimates show the TPUSA halftime stream pulled just north of 11 million concurrent households live.
And because the Super Bowl is proudly group viewing, with industry averages around 2.5 viewers per household,
that puts the live audience north of:
27,500,000 people.
Let that sink in y'all.
TPUSA potentially siphoned off roughly 22% of the total households watching the NFL broadcast during halftime. CHANGING THE CHANNEL COMPLETELY. 🤯
That is an absolutely psychotic number for counter-programming.
I would pay good money to be a fly on the wall at tomorrow's meetings, where some poor agency media buyer has to explain to a Fortune 100 CMO why the audience fell off a cliff for the spots that bookend halftime… which are often the most expensive placements of the entire game.
Mock it. Cope. Lampoon it. Do whatever you want.
But don't ignore this moment.
Because tonight proved something legacy media never thought possible:
The Super Bowl isn't a captive audience
...and when given a better option, PEOPLE WILL TAKE IT.
The Super Bowl advertising landscape just changed forever.
And honestly? I’m fully here for it.
http://x.com/tylerfarnsworth/status/2020733362462445860?s=61
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