Super Bowl ratings declined to a paltry 112 million people this year

A lackluster and defense-dominated Super Bowl led to a slight dip in ratings for the Super Bowl on Sunday, but enough Americans tuned into to make it the third-most watched NFL championship of all time.

That also makes it the third-most watched program in television history. 

About 112 million viewers in the U.S. watched the Denver Broncos defense hold off NFL MVP Cam Newton to take home the Lombardi Trophy, according to Nielsen ratings. That number is down from the 2015 record of 114.4 million people. The overall percentage of homes turning into the game ticked down as well to 49%.

Nielsen ratings for the Super Bowl are often taken with a bit of a grain of salt, as they do not take group viewership or broadcasts at bars into account. The overall viewership is calculated as the average viewer per minute of the broadcast. 

The dip in viewership comes as something of a surprise considering the recent trend of ratings increases. If advertising prices are any indication, CBS and its advertisers expected higher ratings.

A 30-second spot during the game cost $5 million, up 11% from the year before. 

The downtick in broadcast television was met by a mixed reaction online. 

CBS counted among its victories a free live stream of the game, which the network claimed brought in a new record for online viewership at just under 4 million unique viewers. 

Social activity, however, was down sharply. Facebook and Twitter activity around the game declined, perhaps explained by the lack of drama compared to last year's last-second interception that put the New England Patriots over the Seattle Seahawks. Facebook's total activity was down about 25%, while Twitter saw its U.S. posts almost cut in half.