Who Won Super Bowl 50? Beyoncé

Last Sunday’s Super Bowl was the most watched ever on mobile devices. In fact it was the most-watched-on-mobile football game ever. But the star of the show was singer Beyoncé, who by one measure at least got the most attention.

According to researchers at Flurry, a Yahoo! company, the number of apps launched during Beyoncé’s two-minute solo appearance during the game’s half-time show was the lowest at any point during the 24-10 Broncos win over the Panthers. The researchers interpret that people were watching Beyoncé’s performance, not playing around trying to find something to do on their smartphones.

Here’s Flurry’s play-by-play on the halftime action:

Before the start of Coldplay’s halftime performance during the NFL’s halftime commentator report, we observed a spike in app activity, but Coldplay’s initial solo act (and then addition of Bruno Mars) brought smartphone activity back down to Super Bowl 50 average. Only when Beyoncé joined the performance did viewers put their smartphones down, with our session index dropping the lowest throughout the game. Viewers immediately re-engaged with their smartphones at 5:39pm when Coldplay retook the stage alone.

Beyoncé’s brief Super Bowl 50 appearance cut mobile app usage by a third while she was on stage.

And how did viewers respond to Super Bowl advertising?  Here’s Flurry’s report:

Overall viewer reaction to ads was varied, but the two things that did make us stop and watch was shock factor and emotional appeal. Viewers immediately turned to their phones after viewing the Toyota Prius bank robbery and chase commercial and the Xifaxan Irritable Bowel Mascot spot. The “Super Bowl Babies” teaser and full run, as well as Suntrust’s first ever Super Bowl Ad had viewers taking to their phones, as well.

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The first and second quarters of the game have the most viewers tuned into the game on their TVs, making those the best times to get the most bank for an advertising buck. Advertising in the third quarter gets fewer TV eyeballs, but, Flurry notes “offers a great opportunity to spread your marketing message via mobile push notifications. The fourth quarter is another predominantly dual-screen experience.