Super Bowl, The Office Deliver for NBC

NEW YORK: The Office reached an audience high of 22 million on Sunday night on NBC, immediately following the Super Bowl, which averaged 98.7 million viewers, with a total of 151.6 million viewers.

NBC aired a special one-hour episode of The Office on Sunday following its coverage of Super Bowl XLIII. The show scored an average 10.6 rating in adults 18 to 49 and its 22 million viewers gave NBC its biggest entertainment telecast since May 2004.

The Super Bowl, meanwhile, secured a total audience of 151.6 million and an average 98.7 million viewers, out-rating the 148.3 million total viewers and average 97.5 million viewership for the event on FOX last year. The previous record before that was the 144.4 million who tuned in to CBS in 2004. 

"The Super Bowl, once again, proved its ability to captivate America," said Dick Ebersol, the chairman of NBC Universal Sports & Olympics. "The National Football League should feel a great sense of pride in providing a day of enjoyment to American families—especially those who are struggling in these difficult times."