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Saints Defeat Colts In Most Watched Television Broadcast Of All-Time
Saints Defeat Colts In Most Watched Television Broadcast Of All-Time
New Orleans Saints historic upset over the Indianapolis Colts is now the most watched program in the history of television. Super Bowl XLIV attracted 106.5 million viewers, surpassing the 105.97 viewers that tuned in for the final episode of M*A*S*H (1983).
Drew Brees celebrates the New Orleans Saints victory in Super Bowl XLIV.
It was once speculated that the final episode of Seinfeld would usurp the legendary ratings mark of M*A*S*H, but thanks to the proliferation of television channels that was not the case. It soon became clear that the only broadcast that could surpass the M*A*S*H finale was a Super Bowl. That is no longer speculation but fact.
Just as it’s hard to fathom the Saints as Super Bowl champions, it’s equally as difficult to realize that the finale of M*A*S*H is longer the most watch broadcast in the history of television.
Super Bowl XLIV scored a major-market Nielsen rating of 46.4 with a 68 share; viewership up 10 percent from the previous year’s Big Game.
A rating point is are one percent, or 1,149,000, of the nation’s TV homes. Share is the percentage of TVs turned to a particular program. The aforementioned numbers are from the nation biggest 55 media markets.
Last year’s Super Bowl, between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals, was seen by 98.7 million viewers.
Super Bowl XLIV, played on February 7, 2010, was the highest rated Super Bowl since Super Bowl XXI in 1987. That game featured the New York Giants defeating the Denver Broncos.
As one might image, the top-rated market was New Orleans. However, the second highest rated wasn’t Indianapolis but Washington D.C. Conventional wisdom says the blizzard kept people home with nothing to do but watch football.
According to figures released by CBS, the most-viewed portion of the game occured between 6:30 and 6:45 p.m. PST.
Below, is a table showing the amount of viewers for all the Super Bowls in 2000′s. It’s interesting to note that the highest viewed Super Bowl contains a team from a small market (Pittsburgh).
While market size of the teams involved is important what contributes most to a Super Bowl’s large viewership is the game’s competitiveness.
This is a phenomenon that only belongs to the NFL. The MLB, NBA or the NHL can attract high ratings only if a team from New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, or Boston is involved.
The individual markets that scored the highest ratings were:
1. New Orleans (56.3/82 share)
2. Washington D.C. (56.0/73 share)
3. Nashville (54.4/73 share)
4. Indianapolis (54.2/80 share)
5. Columbus, Ohio (54.0/74 share)
| NUMBER | MATCH UP | MILLIONS |
| XLIII | Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Arizona Cardinals | 98.7 |
| XLII | New England Patriots vs. New York Giants | 97.5 |
| XLI | Indianapolis Colts vs. Chicago Bears | 93.2 |
| XL | Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Seattle Seahawks | 90.7 |
| XXXVIII | New England Patriots vs. Carolina Panthers | 88.4 |
| XXXIX | New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles | 86.1 |
| XXXVII | Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Oakland Raiders | 88.6 |
| XXXIV | St. Louis Rams vs. Tennessee Titans | 88.5 |
| XXXVI | New England Patriots vs. St. Louis Rams | 86.8 |
| XXXV | Baltimore Ravens vs. New York Giants | 84.3 |
[...] We Learned Today… Saints Defeat Colts In Most Watched Television Broadcast Of All-Time …Super Bowl XLIV surpasses M*A*S*H as most watch program in television history, however no [...]
[...] The only thing harder to believe than the Saints winning the NFL championship is the final episode of M*A*S*H ending its reign as the most watched television show of all-time. [...]
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