'Super Bowl XLV:' Most Watched Ever

 It's not often you get to write the words such-and-such a broadcast "was the most watched ever," and I'm not going to let this historic opportunity pass either: "Super Bowl XLV" - the one pretty much all of us watched last night - was the most viewed telecast in TV  history.

  111 million.

  There you have it. The official count.

  The list from Nielsen:

Most Watched Telecasts of All Time Program Date Network Avg. # of Viewers (000)

Super Bowl XLV February 6, 2011 FOX 111,010

Super Bowl XLIV February 7, 2010 CBS 106,476

M*A*S*H Special February 28, 1983

CBS 105,970 Super Bowl XLIII February 1, 2009

NBC 98,732 Super Bowl XLII February 3, 2008

FOX 97,448 Super Bowl XXX January 28, 1996 NBC 94,076

Source: The Nielsen Company.