Los Angeles Times
The New Orleans Saints’ Super Bowl victory over the Indianapolis Colts not only ended 42 seasons of football futility for the franchise, it also shattered one of the television industry’s most storied records.
About 106.5 million tuned into CBS’ telecast of Super Bowl XLIV on Sunday, making it the most watched TV program in the United States ever and topping the series finale of that network’s legendary wartime sitcom “MASH,” which drew 106 million viewers in 1983, according to Nielsen.
Of course, the television landscape has changed dramatically over the last three decades. When the “MASH” finale aired on Feb. 28, 1983, there were 83.3 million homes with televisions; now there are almost 115 million homes with televisions. More…