Super Bowl Earns Record Local Market Ratings

Sunday’s game between the Giants and the Patriots was the third-highest rated Super Bowl of all-time, earning record ratings in Boston and drawing huge shares in New York as well as Indianapolis, the game’s host city.

Super Bowl XLVI earned a 47.8 overnight rating, 7% higher than Super Bowl XLII when the Giants defeated the Patriots on Fox.  The rating is less than one percent behind the two highest rated Super Bowls–XLV (2011) between the Packers and Steelers on Fox and XXI (1987) between the Giants and the Broncos on CBS.

The game was the highest rated NFL game ever in the Boston market, pulling in a 56.7/81 overnight rating/share.  The Indianapolis market registered a 56.4/79 rating.

Sunday’s Giants victory earned a 49.7/74 in New York, the second-highest overnight for an NFL game in the market, trailing Super Bowl XXI.  The last time the Giants won the Super Bowl, in 2008, the rating was 44.9/67.

Even though the Giants won over a significant percentage of viewers in New York, the market was the 18th ranked market for the game.

Here are the top 10 metered markets for Super Bowl XLVI:

1. Boston, 56.7/81

2. Indianapolis, 56.4/79

3. Norfolk, 54.2/73

4. Columbus, 54.1/72

5. New Orleans, 54.0/72

T6. Nashville, 53.5/74

T6. Jacksonville, 53.5/70

8. Buffalo, 52.9/72

9. Kansas City, 52.1/73

10. Milwaukee, 52.0/73

>Update: With the final viewership numbers tallied, Sunday’s Super Bowl is officially the most watched Super Bowl of all time.  111.3 million viewers tuned into Super Bowl XLVI, topping last year’s big game, which drew 111.0 million.

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