Super Bowl XLVIII is most watched television show in U.S. History

A lot of people watch the Super Bowl. Apparently this year more than any television in U.S. history. 111.5 million people tuned in to the beating of the Broncos by the Seahawks. This topped the previous Super Bowl mark of 111.3 million.

I have heard about the actual ratings being a bit down for this game compared to years past and I assume that is because the entire audience is larger.

An interesting piece to the ratings is that the highest viewership was during the kickoff and fell off from there. This is either because as the time got later, people began to turn off the television. Or, the game was a blow out and people changed the channel.

Another interesting note is while the game drew 111.5 million viewers, the half time show pulled in 115.3 million sets of eyes. This tops the prior record of Madonna at 114 million viewers.

The most interesting piece of the press release was the following:

Kansas City led all markets with a 58.1/78, followed by Seattle (56.7/92, the market's best Super Bowl performance ever), Indianapolis (53.9/74), New Orleans (53.2/72), Tulsa (52.9/71), Las Vegas (52.5/75), Portland (52.4/82), Knoxville (52.3/68), Jacksonville (52.0/68) while Denver (51.4/83) and Tampa (51.4/71) round out the Top 10. Host market New York delivered a 50.5, its best Super Bowl rating since 1987 (Super Bowl XXI: Giants vs. Broncos, 53.4).

I know they love their football in KC, and this goes to prove it.

All in all these numbers matter most to the NFL and any advertising revenue they want to pull. In my opion it does not justify the insane amount of money spent on advertisements, but it does make a little sense.