Beyonce's Super Bowl show fails to beat Madonna's 2012 appearance

Beyonce’s half-time performance at the Super Bowl last Sunday failed to pull in more viewers than Madonna’s record breaking 2012 appearance.

In fact, fewer people watched the thrilling Super Bowl than the previous two championship games, according to figures released on Tuesday.

Although Beyonce, who prepared for five months for the hotly anticipated gig, reunited Destiny’s Child and sung live, viewing figures showed that the 31-year-old was watched by 104 million viewers, compared to Madge’s audience of 112.5 million, the Daily Mail reported.

Nielsen, a company that tracks the ratings, reported the actual game drew 108.4 million viewers, which is a drop from last season’s tally of 111.3 million viewers.

Madonna’s performance in 2012, which sparked controversy after M.I.A swore at cameras, was criticised on Twitter but its lavish nature - the slot featured CeeLo Green, Nicki Minaj and LMFAO - meant the show was certainly noticed.

Nearly half of all households that own a television were tuned into Sunday’s game, the company added.

The showdown, where the Baltimore Ravens defeated the San Francisco 49ers, scored a 46.3 rating and 69 share in its overnight ratings.

For the Nielsen measurement, one ratings point represents 1,147,000 households, or 1 percent of the nation’s estimated 114.7 million TV homes.

The share means that 71 percent of TVs that were on at the time were tuned to the Super Bowl.