Ratings - Most Viewed TV Program in History: Super Bowl Xliii on Nbc

[february 2009]

[02/03/09 - 10:02 AM] Most Viewed TV Program in History: Super Bowl Xliii on Nbc NBC spins the final numbers for Sunday, February 1.

[via press release from NBC]
MOST VIEWED TV PROGRAM IN HISTORY: SUPER BOWL XLIII ON NBC 151.6 Million Total Viewers & 98.7 Million Average Viewers Watch Super Bowl XLIII TAMPA - Feb. 3, 2009 - Super Bowl XLIII is now the most viewed television program in U.S. history with a total audience of 151.6 million viewers, according to official national ratings data released today by Nielsen Media Research. "It's always incredibly satisfying to amass large audiences, but this television record simply reaffirms the power of the Super Bowl and the National Football League," said Dick Ebersol, Chairman, NBC Universal Sports & Olympics. "Everyone associated with the NFL should feel a great sense of pride in this accomplishment and in providing a day of enjoyment to American families - especially those who are struggling in these difficult times." MOST VIEWED TELEVISION PROGRAMS IN HISTORY (total viewers): 1. Super Bowl XLIII 151.6 million NBC 2009 2. Super Bowl XLII 148.3 million Fox 2008 3. Super Bowl XXVIII 144.4 million CBS 2004 The total audience of 151.6 million viewers tops the previous Super Bowl record audience of 148.3 million viewers by 3.3 million viewers (Super Bowl XLII, Giants-Patriots, Note: total audience measures viewership for all or part of a broadcast). MOST-WATCHED SUPER BOWLS (average viewers): 1. Super Bowl XLIII 98.7 million NBC 2009 2. Super Bowl XLII 97.5 million Fox 2008 3. Super Bowl XXX 94.1 million NBC 1996 4. Super Bowl XLI 93.2 million CBS 2007 5. Super Bowl XXVII 91.0 million NBC 1993 The average viewership of 98.7 million is tops in Super Bowl history, beating last year's game by 1.2 million viewers (97.5 million). NBC now owns two of the top three and three of the top five most watched Super Bowls of all-time, with Super Bowl XXX third on the list with 94.1 million viewers and Super Bowl XXVII fifth with 91.0 million viewers. (Note: P2+ measures average viewership per minute). * The MAS*H finale in 1983 averaged 106 million viewers and total audience figures for the program are estimated to be 122 million viewers.

· SHOWATCH
(series past and present)
· DEVWATCH
(series in development)
· MOVIEWATCH
(tv movies and mini-series)

most recent ratings | view all posts

[03/20/26 - 02:01 PM]
CBS Has Top 2 and 11 of Top 20 Series in Live + 7-Day Multiplatform Viewership Among All Broadcast and Streaming Competition in the First Week of March
CBS has #1 series/drama ("Marshals"), #1 comedy ("Georgie and Mandy's First Marriage"), #1 primetime news program ("60 Minutes") and #1 unscripted series ("Survivor") of the week.

[03/20/26 - 01:01 PM]
"Jimmy Kimmel Live" Tops Late-Night for Third Week in a Row Among Adults 18-49
The Thursday, March 5, episode scored the show's top telecast across all three weeks among Adults 18-49 (0.21 rating), with the show's best rating in the key adult demo in four weeks.

[03/19/26 - 02:34 PM]
10,784,000 Viewers: World Baseball Classic Final on FOX and FOX Deportes Delivers Most-Watched WBC Telecast Ever
Viewership peaked with 12,148,000 from 10:30-10:45 PM ET on FOX.

[03/19/26 - 01:03 PM]
3 Million "Outlander" Fans Drive the Epic Season Eight Premiere to a Four-Year Series High
The episode, entitled "Soul of a Rebel," secured the top spot for the week among all scripted cable programs.

[03/19/26 - 08:01 AM]
"Zootopia 2" Roars to #1 on Disney+ with 32M Views Globally in Its Premiere Week
Its arrival on service builds on the enduring popularity of the franchise: together, "Zootopia," "Zootopia+," and "Zootopia 2" have been streamed over 885 million hours globally to date.

[03/17/26 - 03:16 PM]
FOX Sports Hits Home Run with Most-Watched WBC Game in History
7,369,000 viewers watched on FS1 and FOX Deportes as Team USA advanced past the Dominican Republic 2-1 in the World Baseball Classic semifinals on Sunday night.

[03/17/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of March 9 - "One Piece" Season 2 Sets Sail for No. 1 in This Week's Top 10
Proving that demand for prehistoric beasts will never go extinct, docuseries "The Dinosaurs" landed at No. 2 on the English TV list with 9.6 million views.

[03/13/26 - 03:05 PM]
Italy's Victory Over Mexico Delivers 2 Million Viewers Across FS1 and FOX Deportes
Said coverage marked the most-watched non-USA WBC Pool Play telecast ever.

[03/13/26 - 01:45 PM]
ABC News Is #1 in Total Viewers in Late Night, Friday Night and Sunday Morning
"20/20" saw week-to-week gains in Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49.

[03/12/26 - 03:18 PM]
FOX Sports Scores All-Time High Team USA World Baseball Classic Viewership
3,171,000 viewers on average watched the four Team USA World Baseball Classic Pool play games across FOX, FS1 and FOX Deportes.

[03/12/26 - 03:01 PM]
CBS Midseason Premiere Week Tops Broadcast and Streaming Rankings in Live + 7-Day Multiplatform Viewership
The network scored three of the top four and 12 of the top 20 most-watched series among all broadcast and streaming competition.

[03/11/26 - 03:16 PM]
FOX Sports Sets All-Time World Baseball Classic Viewership Record with Mexico-USA
5,018,000 viewers watched on FOX and FOX Deportes as Team USA defeated Mexico 5-3 in World Baseball Classic pool play on Monday night.

[03/11/26 - 11:30 AM]
ESPN Delivers Most-Watched Women's College Basketball Regular Season Since 2008-09
ESPN networks were home to six of the top 10 women's college basketball regular season games across all networks this season and 29 of the top 30 on cable.

[03/10/26 - 03:04 PM]
FOX Sports Smashes World Baseball Classic Pool Play Viewership Records
Great Britain at USA drew 2.98 million viewers on Saturday, March 7.

[03/10/26 - 02:09 PM]
"R.J. Decker" Gets Down to Business with Over 11 Million Total Audience to Date for Series Debut
In fact, "R.J. Decker" was the most compatible telecast to air following "High Potential" to date, with 73% of the hit drama's live audience flowing through to the series debut.

more ratings >>