At long last, the record has fallen. More people watched Sunday’s Super Bowl on CBS than watched the final episode of “M*A*S*H” in 1983, also on CBS.
According to The Nielsen Company the estimated audience Sunday as the underdog New Orleans Saints triumphed over the Indianapolis Colts was 106.5 million. That not only broke the record for Super Bowl viewing, set last year by the Pittsburgh-Arizona game on NBC, at 98.7 million, but also broke the record for most watched TV show of all time.
That record had been held since February 28, 1983, when the “Goodbye, Farewell and Amen” episode of “M*A*S*H” – a special finale running two and a half hours – was viewed by an estimated audience of just a hair under 106 million.
“With all the memorable story lines going into Super Bowl XLIV combined with the awesome power of the NFL, we are thrilled with this rating, and I am extremely proud of the way the entire CBS Television Network produced, sold and promoted the most-watched television show in history,” said Sean McManus, President, CBS News and Sports.
Sunday’s game also set a new record for Household viewership. Nielsen reports that the Super Bowl was viewed in 51.7 million households, making it the most watched television program of all time among households, beating the M*A*S*H finale in 1983, which was seen by an average of 50.2 million homes. The game scored a preliminary 45.0% U.S. household rating.
Here are the most watched Super Bowls of all time.
TOP FIVE MOST WATCHED SUPER BOWLS OF ALL TIME
Super Bowl |
Date |
Network |
Teams |
Avg. # of Viewers (000) |
XLIV |
Feb 7, 2010* |
CBS |
New Orleans-Indianapolis |
106,480 |
XLIII |
Feb 1, 2009* |
NBC |
Arizona-Pittsburgh |
98,732 |
XLII |
Feb 3, 2008* |
FOX |
NY Giants-New England |
97,448 |
XXX |
Jan 28, 1996 |
NBC |
Dallas-Pittsburgh |
94,080 |
XLI |
Feb 4, 2007* |
CBS |
Chicago-Indianapolis |
93,184 |
Source: The Nielsen Company
* Live + Same Day Viewing Estimates Include DVR Playback On The Same Day, Defined As 3AM-3AM