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Kendrick Lamar’s Drake-Centric Set Is Most-Watched Halftime Show Ever

It comes as Super Bowl LIX also earned record-high ratings.

Kendrick Lamar got more than a third of the country to watch him hate Drake. The rapper’s halftime show—which featured the likes of SZA, Serena Williams, and a victory-lap rendition of the Grammy-winning “Not Like Us”—saw 133.5 million viewers tune in, making it the most-watched halftime show in history. Fox’s broadcast of Super Bowl LVI also saw an average of 127.7 million people watch, making it the most-watched Super Bowl ever despite the Philadelphia Eagles' clobbering of the Kansas City Chiefs. The 40-22 game’s most-watched window was its second quarter at 137.7 million viewers, according to Nielsen ratings obtained by Axios. The average was a 3 percent increase from 2024’s 123.4 million viewers. Fox aired the Super Bowl across its broadcast network; the Spanish-language channels Fox Desportes and Telemundo; the NFL’s digital platforms, and its ad-supported streaming service, Tubi. The record-high ratings also bode well for advertisers, who paid $8 million for a 30-second slot.