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Saints running back Pierre Thomas dives as he scores a touchdown - Source: Reuters -
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The Super Bowl's TV audience set a viewing record for the
annual National Football League Championship and eclipsed the 1983
benchmark set by the comedy MASH to become the most watched US
telecast, according to early ratings data on Tuesday.
A record 106.5 million American TV viewers watched the New Orleans
Saints beat the Indianapolis Colts in Monday's game, broadcast on
CBS, Nielsen media and CBS said.
The figures topped the record held since 1983 by the finale of
MASH, which drew 106 million viewers.
The previous record for a Super Bowl was the 98.7 million
Americans who tuned in to see the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the
Arizona Cardinals in 2009.
In an era of declining live viewership for TV shows, audiences for
the Super Bowl have grown for each of the past four years,
demonstrating why advertisers paid up to $3 million for a
30-second
commercial spot during Monday's more than three hour
broadcast.
CBS said the audience for Monday's game reached a peak of 114.1
million TV viewers in its last half-hour. Overall for the game, 68%
of the US TV sets that were turned on Monday were watching the
football game, it added.
"The Super Bowl remains the premier television event of the year,
and is one of the few programs in an era of fragmented TV
viewership that can still attract a huge national audience," said
Dave Thomas, Nielsen's president of media client
services.
"This year's Super Bowl had a compelling narrative, with the
underdog New Orleans Saints coming from behind against powerhouse
Indianapolis Colts. There was tremendous interest in both the game
and the advertisements leading up to last night and the excitement
of the game itself translated into record ratings," Thomas said in
a statement.
CBS news and sports president Sean McManus said he was proud of
the way the network "produced, sold and promoted the most-watched
television show in history."
CBS, already the most-watched of the four big TV networks, sold
out its Super Bowl advertising spots despite the economic
downturn.
Snickers, Doritos, Google and Bud Light were among the ads
creating the most popular early buzz on Tuesday, according to media
analysts.
Monday's Super Bowl was watched by more than double the 48 million
Americans who tuned in last month to watch President Barack Obama's
State of the Union address, and the average 26.8 million watching
this year's American Idol on Fox television, which is currently the
most-watched series on US television.
