Super Bowl XLII sets ratings records

BY NEIL BEST | neil.best@newsday.com

February 5, 2008

PHOENIX - The Giants' upset of the Patriots forever will be seared into the memories of sports fans in New York. But they won't be the only ones.

Super Bowl XLII was a national phenomenon, easily setting viewership records for a U.S. sports event and attracting the second-largest audience for a measured sports or entertainment program.

It was watched by an average of nearly a third of Americans over the course of the game and half the population for at least a portion of it.

The average of 97.5 million viewers surpassed the 94.1 million for Super Bowl XXX (also in Arizona) between the Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers 12 years ago.

That was second only to the final episode of "M*A*S*H" on Feb. 28, 1983, which attracted an average audience of 106 million.

A record 148.3 million people watched at least a part of Super Bowl XLII, beating the previous mark of 144.4 million set four years ago.

The game's rating, which measures the percentage of households watching, was 43.2 - the highest for a Super Bowl since the Rams faced the Titans eight years ago - and it drew 65 percent of homes with a TV in use.

During the climax between 9:30 and 10, the rating rose to 47.9 and 105.7 million people.

As usual, the vast, diverse New York market trailed the ratings leaders, even with a local team involved. Boston was No. 1 with 55.6 percent of all homes and 81 percent of those with a TV in use. New York ranked 32nd among the 56 large markets measured at 44.9 and 67 percent.

Peyton Manning's town did much better than Eli's. Indianapolis ranked second to Boston at 54.1 and 73.

An estimated 6.6 million people in the New York market watched the game, and 3.5 million still were tuned in for the local postgame show from 10:30 to 11 p.m.

That "M*A*S*H" episode in 1983 was watched in 60.2 percent of all households in a nation that then had a smaller population, a mark that is unapproachable in today's more fractured media environment.

Eight of the top 15- rated shows in TV history are Super Bowls, but none has been played in the past 20 years. The highest-rated Super Bowl was played in 1982 and attracted 49.1 percent of homes, a figure that likely never will be surpassed.

Big number

Sunday night's game was the second highest-rated in the New York market among the five Super Bowls that have involved local teams:

Team Super Bowl NY Rating

Jets III 40.6

Giants XXI 53.4

Giants XXV 43.4

Giants XXXV 40.6