Tune in for Sunday night’s Super Bowl XLIX telecast on NBC?
Well, you were part of a record-breaking audience.
According to The Nielsen Company, more people watched the Patriots defeat the Seahawks than any other program in United States television history, NBC announced on Monday.
In all, 114.4 million people tuned in for Super Bowl XLIX.
The previous viewership record was set in Super Bowl XLVIII in 2014, when 112.2 million people watched the Seahawks rout the Broncos.
Super Bowl XLIX garnered a 47.5 share, the highest viewership percentage for a Super Bowl since the Bears-Patriots matchup in 1986 — a game also televised by NBC.
“Last night’s Patriots-Seahawks Super Bowl ranks among the most exciting sporting events in U.S. history,” NBC Sports Group Chairman Mark Lazarus said Monday. “Super Bowl XLIX delivered for all of our partners, proving once again that the Super Bowl is the most dominant and consistent property on television.”
The top six most-watched TV programs in U.S. history have been the last six Super Bowls. No. 7 is the final episode of “M.A.S.H,” which aired in 1983.