Super Bowl scores big audience

A lopsided game still yielded the second-biggest audience in Super Bowl history, according to preliminary estimates from Nielsen Media Research, with almost 138 million people -- or nearly half the U.S. population -- watching at least a portion of Sunday’s Tampa Bay-Oakland matchup on ABC.

That ranks behind only the 1996 Super Bowl, featuring Dallas versus Pittsburgh, though the population was smaller then, meaning a higher percentage of U.S. homes tuned in. The average audience at any given moment Sunday, estimated at 88.6 million viewers, increased 2% over last year and represents the highest rating in five years.

Preliminary estimates indicate that “Alias,” which followed the game on ABC, attracted its largest audience ever with 17.4 million viewers, but that represents the lowest ever for a post-Super Bowl telecast. Because postgame coverage ran long, the program did not begin until 11 p.m. on the East Coast.

Brian Lowry