Super Bowl XLIX Breaks U.S. Broadcast Records

NEW YORK: Super Bowl XLIX on NBC Sunday brought in 114.4 million viewers to become the most-watched telecast in U.S. history.

Sunday night's broadcast ranks as the most-watched television program in U.S. history and the highest-rated Super Bowl in 30 seasons, according to fast national data released by The Nielsen Company. The broadcast beat out last year's game on FOX by 2.2 million.

The game earned a 47.5 household rating and a 71 share, an increase of 2 percent from last year’s 46.7/69 for Super Bowl XLVIII, and is the highest rated Super Bowl since 1986. The viewership peaked at 120.8 million viewers from 9:45 p.m. to 10 p.m. during the fourth quarter, when Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady completed 13 of 15 pass attempts for 124 yards and two touchdowns. The halftime performance by Katy Perry, during the 8 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. half hour, was seen by 118.5 million viewers, 3 million more viewers than last year’s halftime featuring Bruno Mars (115.3 million), and is the most-watched Super Bowl halftime show featuring entertainment ever—dating back to 1991. The halftime show earned a 48.2/72 household rating, two percent higher than last year (47.2/70), and is the highest rated halftime show featuring entertainment ever.

“[Sunday's] Patriots-Seahawks Super Bowl ranks among the most exciting sporting events in U.S. history,” said Mark Lazarus, the chairman of NBC Sports Group. “Super Bowl XLIX delivered for all of our partners, proving once again that the Super Bowl is the most dominant and consistent property on television.”

NBC’s post-Super Bowl telecast of The Blacklist set series records of 26.5 million viewers overall and an 8.7 rating in adults 18 to 49, making it the highest scoring prime-time entertainment telecast on the "big four" networks in both measures since the Academy Awards last March. It was also NBC’s most-watched scripted program in more than ten years. Last night’s special post-Super Bowl edition of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon delivered 9.8 million viewers overall and a 3.6 rating in adults 18 to 49, the show’s second-best results to date behind only last February’s series premiere following an Olympics telecast. The 9.8 million viewers make it the most-watched post-Super Bowl late-night talk show in the history of People Meters—dating back to September 1987.