After 27 years, M*A*S*H has been dethroned.
The Saints’ 31-17 win over the Colts in Super Bowl XLIV drew a 45.0/68 fast-national rating and 106.5 million viewers on CBS Sunday night, up 7% in ratings and 8% in viewership from Steelers/Cardinals on NBC last year (42.0/64, 98.7 mil), and up 4% and 9%, respectively, from Giants/Patriots on FOX in ’08 (43.1/65, 97.4 mil).
Saints/Colts ranks as the most-viewed program in U.S. television history, topping the previous record of 106.0 million for the series finale of M*A*S*H in 1983.
Additionally, the 45.0 rating is the highest for any television program since Cowboys/Steelers drew a 46.0 in 1996.
To put the numbers in perspective, the Super Bowl drew over 70 million more viewers than the top non-NFL sporting event of the past 12 months — the Texas/Alabama BCS National Championship Game (30.8 mil).
This is the third-straight year the Super Bowl has drawn record viewership, and the fifth-straight year that viewership for the game has increased.
Just five years ago, Super Bowl XXXIX drew only 86.1 million viewers on FOX. From 1999-05, the Super Bowl drew less than 90 million viewers each year.
The record for the Super Bowl is the capper to a highly successful season for the NFL. The regular season was the most-viewed since 1990 (16.6 mil), the Wild Card round was the most-viewed since ’95 (29.9 mil), the Divisional Round was the most-viewed since ’94 (33.0 mil), and the Conference Championship games were the most-viewed since ’82 (52.9 mil).
Most-viewed programs in television history
| # | Date | Game | Net | Rating | Viewers (000) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sun., 2/7/10 | NFL: Saints/Colts | CBS |
45.0/68
|
106,480
|
| 2 | Mon., 2/28/83 | M*A*S*H: Goodbye, Farewell and Amen | CBS |
60.2/77
|
105,970
|
| 3 | Sun., 2/1/09 | NFL: Steelers/Cardinals | NBC |
42.0/64
|
98,732
|
| 4 | Sun., 2/3/08 | NFL: Giants/Patriots | FOX |
43.1/65
|
97,448
|
| 5 | Sun., 1/28/96 | NFL: Cowboys/Steelers | NBC |
46.0/68
|
94,080
|
