Super Bowl Most Watched TV Show Ever

(CBS/AP)  The Super Bowl was watched by more than 106 million people, surpassing the 1983 finale of "M-A-S-H" to become the most-watched program in television history.

The Nielsen Co. estimated Monday that 106.5 million people watched the New Orleans Saints upset the Indianapolis Colts. That beats the "M-A-S-H" finale, which had 105.97 million viewers in an era when there were fewer television sets.

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Compelling story lines involving the city of New Orleans and its recovery from Hurricane Katrina and the quest for a second Super Bowl ring for Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning propelled the viewership.

The game also obliterated the previous record viewership for a Super Bowl - last year's game between Arizona and Pittsburgh in which 98.7 million people watched.

The top-rated market was New Orleans, as might be expected, but the second highest wasn't Indianapolis. It was Washington, where a paralyzing snowstorm presumably kept many residents at home and in front of the TV.

Meanwhile, Dorito's was a big winner in a measurement of interest in the commercials played during the Super Bowl. TiVo Inc. said the snack company's ad featuring a boy telling a man to keep his hands off his chips and his mom was stopped and played back in 15 percent of homes with the digital video recorder.

The secretly filmed CBS promo with David Letterman, Jay Leno and Oprah Winfrey came in second, followed by the Snicker's ad with Betty White and Abe Vigoda flattened in a football game.

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Meanwhile, USA Today conducted its Super Bowl Ad Meter, a live rating system that gets viewers' impressions in real-time on game day. And, for the first time, a Snickers commercial featuring legendary actress Betty White grabbed the No.1 spot.

White is pummeled by 20-something football players in the advertisement. Actor Abe Vigoda also gets knocked off his feet by the young players in the ad.

[gkw80]

This story is wrong. The final episode of MASH had 125 million viewers (AP, March 3, 1983). Its still the all time ratings leader. CBS needs to correct this and get their facts straight.

[pragmatist1]

Comparing the viewership of this Super Bowl to that of the final episode of M*A*S*H is flawed because 1) there are more people today and 2) more people with sets to watch the game. One could also counter that factor this "result" is further skewed because the sitcom aired in the evening, whereas the game aired on a weekend, when more people aren't working or going about their regular commitments.