Super Bowl XLIV sets ratings record

Two star quarterbacks and the great story of the city of New Orleans possibly having something finally happen good to it in the wake of Hurricane Katrina spurred record ratings for Super Bowl XLIV on Sunday night.

It was reportedly watched by 106.5 million U.S. people on CBS, surpassing the 1983 finale of “M-A-S-H” to become the most-watched program in American television history and the first sports telecast to exceed 100 million viewers. The “M-A-S-H” finale had 105.97 million viewers in an era when there were many fewer television sets, and the population of the United States is 31% larger than it was in 1983. So take this in context — but at the same time, there are also many more stations and things to watch than in ’83.

Overnight ratings show the game scored a 46.4 rating (percentage of homes surveyed in 56 selected markets) and a 68 share (percentage of TVs in use tuned to Super Bowl) in metered markets, up 10% from last year when the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Arizona Cardinals with a last-minute touchdown.

Researchers predicted Sunday’s game could have a record audience because the economy would result in more people watching at home, rather than going out to bars, where their viewing wouldn’t count. In addition, the winter storm that hit parts of the East Coast the weekend prior to the game probably kept more viewers near their TVs than in years past.

In New Orleans, 82% of TV sets on were tuned to the game, the largest percentage of the major markets released by Nielsen. Indianapolis had 80% of the sets tuned to the game. The overall audience peaked at 50.6 rating and 71 share from 9:30 to 9:45 p.m. During that time period, roughly three out of every four sets in use in the U.S. were tuned to the game

Here are the Top 10 U.S. metered markets

1. New Orleans 56.3/82

2. Washington, D.C. 56.0/73

3. Nashville 54.4/73

4. Indianapolis 54.2/80

5. Columbus, Ohio 54.0/74

6. Dayton, Ohio 53.7/73

7. Norfolk, Va. 53.1/72

8. Knoxville, Tenn. 52.0/65

T9. West Palm Beach, Fla. 51.8/69

T9. Pittsburgh 51.8/67

Bet on Sports at Bodog Sportsbook and cash in on your share of huge bonuses!

Popularity: unranked [?]

Subscribe to comments You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Post Tags:

Browse Timeline