Big Figures but Ratings Down for Super Bowl

Overnight ratings for the Super Bowl were somewhat less than super, possibly because the game’s national appeal was affected by the fact that both teams were from New York state.

In figures for 25 major markets measured by the A. C. Nielsen research firm, the New York Giants’ dramatic 20-19 victory Sunday over the Buffalo Bills earned a 42.9 rating and 63% share of the big-city audience.

While that is a predictably large Super Bowl audience--ABC projects that up to 120 million viewers saw some part of the game--the rating was well below some past figures.

Final national ratings are scheduled for release today. ABC research analyst Larry Hyams said he expects the national statistics to be close to the big-city figures. But one ABC spokesman noted that Buffalo’s audience was not even included in the overnights because the city is not one of the top 25 markets.

“And they weren’t doing much else in Buffalo Sunday besides watching the game,” said the spokesman.

But that wouldn’t have a major effect on national ratings. And past games have fared much better. In 1982, for instance, the San Francisco-Cincinnati football classic earned a 49.1 rating and 73% of the audience.

However, Hyams said the game may have been more watched than some past, higher-rated contests because TV’s penetration of U.S. households is greater than ever. Each rating point today equals 931,000 homes. In 1982, each point represented 815,000 homes. In 1976, the figure was 696,000 homes.

While Hyams said ABC was “very happy” with the overnights and that the figures were about 9% higher than last year’s Super Bowl, the Giants-Bills game was one of the lowest-rated in the last 15 years. The 1990 San Francisco blowout of Denver, 55-10, was the bottom-ranked Super Bowl contest since 1976, drawing only a 39.0 rating.

Although the outcome of Sunday’s game went down to the final seconds, ABC failed to get the huge carryover audience it anticipated for the new sitcom it launched following the contest, “Davis Rules,” starring Randy Quaid and Jonathan Winters. (See review, F9.)

“Davis Rules” delivered a modestly successful 16.8 overnight rating, attracting 26% of the audience.

In 1983, NBC’s new series “The A-Team” roared to success with a 26.4 rating and 39 share following the Super Bowl. And ABC’s “The Wonder Years” also had a more successful post-Super Bowl launching in 1988 with a 17.9 rating and 31 share.

ABC said Sunday’s game registered the highest overnight Super Bowl ratings since the 1987 Giants-Broncos game. Commercials went for $800,000 for a 30-second spot.

“Davis Rules” will try to ride its post-Super Bowl exposure to success starting tonight when it moves into its regular slot following “Who’s the Boss?”