Super Bowl Attracts Record Audience

GLENDALE, February 5: A record 97.5 million Americans tuned in to Sunday’s
National Football League (NFL) championship game between the New York Giants
and the New England Patriots, marking the biggest TV audience in Super Bowl
history and the second most-watched U.S. telecast ever.

The number of
viewers watching the Super Bowl on Sunday was surpassed only by the 106 million
who saw the series finale of M*A*S*H in February 1983, according to data issued by Nielsen
Media Research.

Sunday’s
audience was up nearly 5 percent from a year ago, when CBS carried the NFL
championship. Previously, the most-watched Super Bowl on record was the 1996
contest between Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers, which drew 94.1 million
viewers.

Advertisers
paid an average of $2.7 million for a 30-second spot, up from $2.6 million a
year ago, according to reports. Super Bowl commercials received in excess of 15
million additional views online at social-networking site MySpace.com, which,
like the host broadcaster FOX, is owned by News Corp.

The Giants won
17-14 against the Patriots—who had been undefeated during the regular
season—on a touchdown in the final seconds, pulling off one of the
biggest upsets in Super Bowl history.

—By
Irene Lew