Super Bowl XLIXon NBC, featuring the New England Patriots' history-making comeback from 10 points behind in the fourth quarter to defeat the Seattle Seahawks 28-24, is the most-watched television program in U.S. history and the highest-ratedSuper Bowlin 30 seasons, according to fast national data released today by The Nielsen Company. The game was seen by a record 114.4 million viewers (6:31-10:10 p.m. ET), topping by 2.2 million viewers last year’sSuper Bowl XLVIIIon Fox and is the biggest audience to watch a television program in U.S. history. Here’s whatMark Lazarus, Chairman, NBC Sports Group, had to say in a statement.
Last night’s Patriots-Seahawks Super Bowl ranks among the most exciting sporting events in U.S. history.Super Bowl XLIXdelivered for all of our partners, proving once again that the Super Bowl is the most dominant and consistent property on television."
Most-Watched Programs in U.S. Television History
The game earned a 47.5 rating and a 71 share, a gain of two percent from last year’s 46.7/69 forSuper Bowl XLVIIIand is the highest-ratedSuper Bowlsince 1986 (Bears-Patriots,Super Bowl XX, 48.3/70). The 47.5 rating is the 4th highest inSuper Bowland ranks as 9th highest rated program in television history.
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The viewership peaked at 120.8 million viewers from 9:45-10 p.m. ET during the fourth quarter, when Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady completed 13 of 15 pass attempts for 124 yards and two touchdowns.
Half Hour Viewership (Times ET):
Half Hour Ratings (Times ET):
From 6-6:30 p.m. ET, theSuper Bowl XLIX Pre-Gameshow averaged 72.7 million viewers, ranking as the most watched pre-kickoff segment on record (since the advent of the People Meter in 1988), and a six percent increase from the similar time period last year (68.6 million). The Super Bowl XLIX Post-Game Show (10:10-10:38) averaged 72.5 million viewers - up 10% from last year’s 65.8 million viewers forTEtuqyunaZvpwC on FOX.
NBC Sports Live Extra’s live stream ofSuper Bowl XLIXto desktops and tablets delivered record traffic and a high-quality experience for consumers. The live stream of the game set Super Bowl records for average viewers per minute (800,000), concurrent users (1.3 million) and total minutes (213 million), according to Adobe Analytics. In addition to the record traffic, NBC Sports Live Extra delivered a high-quality stream with a long engagement of 84.2 minute per viewer. According to Akamai, the live stream was the highest quality throughput for any Super Bowl. Here’s whatRick Cordella, SVP and General Manager, Digital Media, NBC Sports Group had to say.
“TheSuper Bowlstream on the NBC Sports Live Extra platform went fantastically well. We were excited, not only by the record-breaking consumption, but also the quality of the streams we delivered to football fans.”
The 800,000 average viewers per minute was up 52% when compared to Fox’s stream ofSuper Bowl XLVIIIlast year, which was believed to be the previous record and averaged 528,000 viewers per minute. Concurrent users peaked at 1.3 million at the moment when Patriots CBMalcolm Butlermade his game-winning interception in the final seconds, and is up 18% vs. Fox last year (1.1 million).
Viewers of the live stream consumed 213 million minutes, besting by 86% the previous Super Bowl record set by CBS forSuper Bowl XLVIIIin 2013 (114.4 million minutes). The live stream also produced 2.5 million uniques, up 9% vs. Fox last year and up 19% compared to NBC’s live stream in 2012 (2.1 million), which was the first-ever live stream of a Super Bowl.
The halftime performance byKaty Perryduring the 8-8:30 p.m. ET half hour, was seen by 118.5 million viewers, 3 million+ viewers more than last year’s halftime featuringBruno Mars(115.3 million), and is the most-watched Super Bowl halftime show featuring entertainment ever (dating back to 1991). The halftime show earned a 48.2/72 household rating, two percent higher than last year (47.2/70) and is the highest-rated halftime show featuring entertainment ever.
NBC’s post-Super Bowl telecast ofThe Blacklistset series records of 26.5 million viewers overall and an 8.7 rating in adults 18-49, making it the highest-scoring primetime entertainment telecast on the Big 4 networks in both measures since the Academy Awards last March. It was also NBC’s most-watched scripted program in more than 10 years, sinceERaveraged 28.3 million viewers on June 19, 2025, the night of theFriendsfinale.
Last night’s special post-Super Bowl edition ofThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallondelivered 9.8 million viewers overall and a 3.6 rating in adults 18-49, the show’s second-best results to date behind only last February’s series premiere following an Olympics telecast. The 9.8 million viewers makes it the most-watched post-Super Bowl late-night talk show in the history of People Meters (dating back to September 1987). Note that these preliminary “Blacklist” and “Tonight” ratings are subject to slight change with official nationals to adjust for late starts in the Boston market due to local post-game coverage.
In preliminary results for the night, NBC averaged 104.0 million viewers in primetime (7-11 p.m.) and a 35.8 rating in adults 18-49, making it NBC’s most-watched night in the history of People Meters. The newly relaunched NBC UNIVERSO (formerly mun2), which debuted yesterday, peaked at 457,000 viewers (with 368,000 average viewers throughout the telecast) for its exclusive Spanish-language telecast of Super Bowl XLIX. This marks its most-viewed program outside of soccer in the channel’s history.
The rating in Boston was the best ever for a Super Bowl in the market (61.0/85), topping the previous high of 56.7/81 for the N.Y. Giants-Patriots Super Bowl XLVI on NBC. The host market of Phoenix registered a 55.6/82 rating, the highest for a Super Bowl in the market, topping the prior Phoenix mark of 51.1 for Packers-Steelers in Super Bowl XLV in Feb. 2011.
