NFL

The 2011 Super Bowl Was The Most-Watched TV Program In U.S. History

UPDATE: Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch now confirms via Twitter that “FOX’s broadcast of Super Bowl XLV averaged 111 million viewers, making it the most-watched TV program in U.S. history.”

According to the NFL, Super Bowl XLV had a total of “162.9m viewers topping last year’s 153.4m.”

Here is the rest of our post, as originally written (when only the overnights were available).

The national ratings won’t be released until this afternoon, but the overnight ratings indicate that Super Bowl XLV likely will be the most-watched Super Bowl in history.

With a 47.9/71 metered-market rating/share, last night’s game received the highest overnight rating since Super Bowl XXI in 1987.  The 71 meter share was the highest since 1982, and numbers in both the participating cities and the host city were the highest in years.

Actual audience figures and national ratings won’t be released until this afternoon, but expectations are that they will reach record highs. The audience figures have risen every year since 2005, and peaked last year when 106 million viewers watched. That was with an 18/49 overnight rating.

With a 3 percent increase from last Super Bowl XLIV, expect to see even bigger numbers once they officially come in.