It didn’t top last year’s nailbiter on Fox, but NBC got huge ratings for Super Bowl XLII as the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Arizona Cardinals in a game where the lead changed hands twice in the second half. NBC reports that the telecast earned a 42.1 overnight rating and 65 share from Nielsen.
As you would expect, the highest local ratings were in Pittsburgh, where the game scored a 53.6 rating and 79 share. In Phoenix, it managed only the 9th highest local rating, 47.5, but an 80 shae.
NBC noted that in 18 of the last 20 years, the Super Bowl has delivered an overnight rating of 40.0 or higher. The numbers from Sunday were only 6% behind last year’s game – a 44.7 rating and 66 share for Fox – in which the New York Giants upset the New England Patriots in the game’s final seconds, to end the Patriots historic undefeated season.
Over the last 20 years, the average overnight rating for the Super Bowl is 42.5 with the high being 44.7 for Super Bowl XLII and the low a 39.4 for Super Bowl XXIV.
"Every year, America stands still on Super Sunday and these numbers confirm the power and consistency of the Super Bowl as the top property in all of television," said Dick Ebersol, Chairman, NBC Universal Sports and Olympics. "Many people doubted this match-up, but it’s the Super Bowl not the match-up, that draws an enormous audience,” he added.
NBC said the rating peaked in the 10 pm ET half hour when nearly half of America’s television homes watched (48.0/70). During the exciting fourth quarter viewers saw the Cardinals go ahead with just over teo minutes left on a Kurt Warner to Larry Fitzgerald 64-yard touchdown pass, followed by QB Ben Roethlisberger driving the Steelers to the game-winning touchdown to Super Bowl XLIII MVP Santonio Holmes with 35 seconds to play.
LAST FOUR SUPER BOWL OVERNIGHT RATINGS:
Super Bowl XLIII 42.1/65
Super Bowl XLII 44.7/66
Super Bowl XLI 42.1/62
Super Bowl XL 42.2/62
TOP 25 MARKETS FOR SUPER BOWL XLIII:
1. Pittsburgh 53.6/79
2. Norfolk 52.6/72
3. Jacksonville 50.6/71
4. Buffalo 50.4/68
5. Richmond 49.3/67
6. Tampa 49.2/70
7. Ft. Myers 48.1/68
8. Cleveland 47.7/69
9. Phoenix 47.5/80
10. Indianapolis 47.4/65
11. Nashville 47.2/66
12. Washington D.C. 46.7/70
13. Columbus 46.5/67
14. Orlando 46.4/66
15. Memphis 46.3/63
16. Philadelphia 46.2/65
17. New Orleans 45.7/63
18. Knoxville 45.2/58
19. Baltimore 45.0/63
T20. Denver 44.7/76
T20. Las Vegas 44.7/68
T20. Greensboro 44.7/63
T23. Charlotte 44.6/63
T23. Greenville 44.6/60
25. St. Louis 44.5/69
