45.85 million homes viewed game, 2nd only to final M*A*S*H* episode
Ted S. Warren / AP
One Seattle fan watches in disbelief at the King Street Bar in the shadow of Qwest Field in Seattle during the Super Bowl on Sunday. Pittsburgh won the media market ratings battle, as well, with a 57.1 percent share to Seattle's 55.
NEW YORK - The Pittsburgh Steelers’ victory over the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl was watched in an average of 45.85 million homes, the second-highest total in television history behind the final episode of "M*A*S*H*" in 1983.
Pittsburgh’s 21-10 victory Sunday got a 41.6 preliminary national rating, Nielsen Media Service said Monday, up slightly from the 41.1 rating last year. The share remained the same at 62.
The game was watched by an estimated 141.4 million people in the United States, ABC said, the second-highest total to view a program behind the 144.4 million who tuned to New England’s victory over Carolina in the 2004 Super Bowl. That number estimates the total amount of people to watch the game at any point.
The estimated average of 90.7 million people — or the estimated number of viewers throughout — was the largest Super Bowl audience since the Steelers last played in the title game in 1996, a loss to Dallas that attracted an average of 94.1 million people watching. This year’s audience was 5 percent bigger than the 86.1 million people who watched the Patriots beat the Philadelphia Eagles last year.
In 1983, the final episode of "M*A*S*H*" was watched in an average of 50.15 million homes.
Super Bowl viewers feasted on another halftime show controversy, when the NFL briefly shut off Mick Jagger’s microphone to avoid sexually-suggestive lyrics in two Rolling Stones songs. ABC also scored solid ratings for an episode of “Grey’s Anatomy” following the game.
While the Steelers won by 11 points, the game wasn’t really decided until the final five minutes or so, which kept the audience attracted, said Larry Hyams, ABC research executive.
“The Super Bowl obviously is a national event and people are going to tune in regardless of whether the teams have national appeal,” Hyams said. “It’s up to the game to hold the audience.”
The Super Bowl is traditionally the biggest television event of the year. The Academy Awards, jokingly called the Super Bowl for women, often comes in second; last year, 41.5 million people saw the Oscars.
Pittsburgh had the largest Super Bowl rating (percentage of all sets, whether on or off) of any media market, with a 57.1, Nielsen said. Seattle followed directly behind with a 55.
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The “Grey’s Anatomy” episode after the game was seen by 38.1 million people, Nielsen said. That’s 15 million more than has ever watched a single episode of the medical soap. It was the most-watched entertainment program of the season so far — even beating “American Idol.”
Since 1991, only two post-Super Bowl programs have drawn a bigger audience: “Survivor” in 2001 and “Friends” in 1996. It was solid exposure for a series that has already been growing in appeal during its second season.
At halftime, Jagger was silenced during portions of the songs “Start Me Up” and “Rough Justice.” An NFL spokesman said the band knew ahead of time that the league — still skittish over Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction from two years ago — wouldn’t accept the particular lyrics.
“It wasn’t that big of an issue for us,” said Frank Supovitz, the NFL’s senior vice president, who said the league wanted to make the halftime show family entertainment.
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