NBC Posts Super Ratings

February 2, 2009

By Marc Berman, Mediaweek


NBC, of course, stood well above the Sunday competition, with Arizona versus Pittsburgh on Super Bowl XLIII at a very approximate 89.15 million viewers and a 33.3 rating/66 share among adults 18-49 for the prime-time portion of the game, based on the fast affiliate rating results according to Nielsen Media Research data.

But since the 6-7 p.m. hour is not factored in, these tallies are expected to rise into the low-to-mid 90-million viewer range. Keep in mind that results for any live sporting evening are always approximate when using the fast affiliates.  

Here is the half-hour breakdown from 7-10 p.m.:

Super Bowl XLIII (NBC)

7:00 p.m. - Viewers: 96.54 million, A18-49: 35.3 rating/73 share
7:30 p.m. - Viewers: 93.45 million, A18-49: 34.3/70
8:00 p.m. - Viewers: 85.96 million, A18-49: 31.7/63
8:30 p.m. - Viewers: 89.74 million, A18-49: 33.7/65
9:00 p.m. - Viewers: 84.96 million, A18-49: 32.3/62
9:30 p.m. - Viewers: 84.27 million, A18-49: 32.5/62

One year earlier on Fox, the New York Giants versus New England averaged 97.45 million viewers and a 37.5/73 among adults 18-49, based on the final nationals.    

Leading out of The Super Bowl was NBC's The Office, which scored an estimated 29.69 million viewers and a 13.3/33 among adults 18-49 in the 10:30 p.m. half-hour. But since part of the postgame was factored in, these results will decline (and potentially dramatically) once the final nationals are available.