Broadcast TV Ratings for Sunday, February 4, 2007 February 5, 2007 4:00 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Broadcast TV Ratings, News, Nielsen Ratings, Super Bowl, Television.trackback
Super Bowl XLI rates slightly higher than last years game for CBS. Criminal Minds not as strong as post-Super Bowl occupant Grey’s Anatomy on ABC last year.
According to preliminary ratings, CBS’s coverage of Super Bowl XLI (from 6:27-10:04 p.m.), in which the Indianapolis Colts defeated the Chicago Bears 29-17, earned a 42.6/64 household rating, 93.15M viewers and a 35.1/70 A18-49 rating.
- Year-to-year numbers:
- Households – 41.6/62 to 42.6/64
- Viewers – 90.75M to 93.15M
- A18-49 – 34.6/69 to 35.1/70
As you can see from the ratings above, the game was up 2.4M viewers, 2% among households and 1% among adults 18-49.
This makes it the 2nd most watched Super Bowl of all time (behind the 94.10M who watched Super Bowl XXX between the Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers back in 1996) and the 3rd most watched program in US history (behind the 106 million who watched the series finale of M*A*S*H).
Also noteworthy on the night was the post-Super Bowl occupant Criminal Minds. The show (which aired from 10:30-11:31 p.m.) earned a 15.0/26 household rating, 26.23M viewers and a 9.9/20 A18-49 rating.
This was a strong improvement over the last newly aired episode of the series (+13.24M viewers, +81% among households and +200% among A18-49), but that episode was one of the lowest rated of the season (it went head-to-head with American Idol). The series usually draws around 15M+ viewers a week.
It was not nearly as strong as Grey’s Anatomy in the post-Super Bowl slot last year. Check out the comparison below:
- Grey’s Anatomy (10:27-11:28 p.m.) vs. Criminal Minds (10:30-11:31 p.m.):
- Households – 21.0/34 to 15.0/26
- Viewers – 37.88M to 26.23M
- A18-49 – 16.5/33 to 9.9/20
Grey’s drew 11.65M more viewers, 29% more households and 40% more adults 18-49.
And here is the comparison from the last newly aired episode of Criminal Minds mentioned above:
- Episode-to-episode numbers:
- Households – 8.3/12 to 15.0/26
- Viewers – 12.99M to 26.23M
- Adults 18-49 – 3.3/8 to 9.9/20
Criminal Minds was part 1 of 2, with the second part set to air this coming Wednesday in its normal Wednesday night timeslot from 9:00-10:00 p.m.
So, will the Super Bowl exposure help, hurt or have no effect on the series? Check back Thursday to find out.
All in all, CBS averaged a 34.6/52 household rating, 73.56M viewers and a 28.0/57 among adults 18-49. The entire evening was down compared to last year (check numbers below), mostly due to the more impressive ratings drawn from Grey’s Anatomy. Keep in mind, all numbers on this page related to this year’s Super Bowl evening are fast nationals, and are subject to change when finals are released and reported.
- Year-to-year numbers:
- Households – 38.5/58 to 34.6/52
- Viewers – 82.60M to 73.56M
- Adults 18-49 – 32.2/64 to 28.0/57
Elsewhere on the evening, ABC took second place with a 3.0/5 household rating, 4.88M viewers and a 1.8/4 A18-49 rating. NBC was third with a 2.4/4 household rating, 3.50M viewers and fourth among adults 18-49 with a 1.0/2 rating. Fox was fourth with a 1.9/3 household rating, 2.88M viewers and thid place 1.1/2 A18-49 rating. And lastly for the evening, The CW was fifth with a 0.8/1 household rating, 1.21M viewers and a 0.5/1 A18-49 rating.
Note: Fast Nationals are used when comparing week-to-week numbers, while Final Nationals are used when comparing year-to-year/episode-to-episode numbers, unless otherwise specified.
Source: Fast/Final National Ratings Data from Nielsen Media Research and PIFeedback.com
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