Largest SB TV Audience Since 1996

[Atlanta Dan]

Remember how the consensus was this was not a glamour match-up because the NFC rep was not from a major media market (Washington/New York/Chicago) and the AFC rep was not New England or Indy?

The TV ratings are out:

An estimated 90.7 million people watched the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, the largest Super Bowl audience since the Steelers last played in the title game in 1996.

The audience was five percent bigger than the 86.1 million people who watched the New England Patriots beat the Philadelphia Eagles last year, according to preliminary estimates from Nielsen Media Research.

When the Dallas Cowboys beat the Steelers in 1996, there were 94.1 million people watching.

Not only are the Steelers the Super Bowl champs - they may now be the most popular team in the NFL to the casual fan.

http://www.sportsline.com/nfl/story/9212303

[Koopa]

that's nice, bet ppl are feeling stupid talkin shit about no one cared about the superbowl this year. the steelers built a strong fan base in the 70s and have kept them around cause we are almost always in the mix to win the championship. a lot of teams win a championship or two but then they go several years without reaching the superbowl. we are lucky to have an organiztation that knows what they are doing.

[RoethlisBURGHer]

Take that bitches!

HERE WE GO STEELERS HERE WE GO!

[Milkman]

I am not surprised one bit that the ratings are high.

It's the Steelers...you either LOVE us or hate us!

Either way, people will watch when the Steelers are involved.

[boLT fan]

I wonder how many of those 90.7 million were still awake in the 4th quarter.

[Atlanta Dan]

Originally Posted by boLT fan

I wonder how many of those 90.7 million were still awake in the 4th quarter.

Apparently all of them :)

The Pittsburgh Steelers? victory over the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl was watched in an average of 45.85 million homes, the second-highest total in television history behind the final episode of ?M-A-S-H? in 1983.

The game was watched by an estimated 141.4 million people in the United States, ABC said, the second-highest total to view a program behind the 144.4 million who tuned to New England?s victory over Carolina in the 2004 Super Bowl. That number estimates the total amount of people to watch the game at any point

The estimated average of 90.7 million people ? or the estimated number of viewers throughout ? was the largest Super Bowl audience since the Steelers last played in the title game in 1996, a loss to Dallas that attracted an average of 94.1 million people watching. This year?s audience was 5 percent bigger than the 86.1 million people who watched the Patriots beat the Philadelphia Eagles last year.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11205332/

[steveironcity]

I saw that this was the highest rated sporting event ever, and is second to only the final episode of M*A*S*H in being the highest rated program ever