And now the real winner of Super Bowl XLII: Fox.
The perfect storm of New England trying to make history and a down-to-the-wire finish made the game the most-viewed Super Bowl of all time, and the second-most-watched television program.
According to Nielsen Media Research, Sunday’s telecast averaged 97.5 million viewers, eclipsing the previous record audience of 94.1 million for Super Bowl XXX between Dallas and Pittsburgh.
The final episode of “M*A*S*H” is the all-time leader with 106 million viewers on Feb. 28, 1983. It might take a Super Bowl between the Manning brothers guiding undefeated teams to break that mark.
However, it should be noted that the last 30 minutes of Sunday’s game came close to Hawkeye and company, averaging 105.7 million.
Overall, an estimated 148.3 million viewers watched all or part of the game, surpassing the previous high of 144.4 million viewers for Super Bowl XXXVIII in 2004 when New England beat Carolina.
Obviously, Fox executives were thrilled to see all those big numbers. OK Fox, one, two, three, thank you, Eli and the Giants.
“The viewer for Super Bowl XLII is nothing short of historic,” said Fox Sports Chairman David Hill.
In terms of ratings, Sunday’s game did a 43.2 rating, 1 percent higher than the Bears-Colts Super Bowl in 2007, which did a 42.6 rating; 1 national ratings point is worth more than 1 million homes.
Naturally, the Chicago area had more interest last year. Sunday’s game did a 41.5 local rating, down 17 percent from the 50.2 rating for the Bears Super Bowl; 1 local ratings point is worth nearly 35,000 homes.
Another big winner was Ryan Seacrest. While there was plenty of national bashing of the “American Idol” host and his cheesy red-carpet interviews with celebrities, Fox believes they delivered the desired effect. Ratings for the pregame show were up 6 percent overall, and 16 percent among women ages 18 to 49.
Next year, it’s NBC’s turn. Don’t be surprised if Howie Mandel of “Deal or No Deal” is working the red carpet.
Bats and balls
Enough football. It is time for baseball. With spring training around the corner, WSCR-AM 670 is going to try an interesting concept for its coverage of White Sox games.
Ed Farmer and Chris Singleton will have a traditional call for five games. WSCR then plans to do four “interactive games.”
After three innings of play-by-play, Chris Rongey will join Farmer and Singleton to conduct a talk show during the game. They will take calls from viewers and feature guests from the games.
“This concept allows us to keep up with the team, and have listeners interact with the broadcasters,” program director Mitch Rosen said.
WSCR is guessing you won’t miss the late-inning action with non-roster players, especially in the early games. Also, WSCR will have six “White Sox Baseball Live” talk shows during the spring, featuring interviews with Sox players.
Sign up
The sports networks are gearing up their coverage of college football’s national signing day Wednesday. ESPN2 and ESPNU will begin their reports at 1 p.m. Wednesday. The Big Ten Network will air “Big Ten Tonight: Signing Day Special” at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday and another hour recap at 5 p.m. Thursday.
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Super viewership
The five most-watched Super Bowls:
NO. YR MATCHUP MILLIONS
XLII 2008 Giants-Patriots 97.5
XXX 1996 Cowboys-Steelers 94.1
XLI 2007 Colts-Bears 93.2
XX 1986 Bears-Patriots 92.6
XXVII 1993 Cowboys-Bills 91.0
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esherman@tribune.com
