AP Photo/Chris O'MearaWeekend TV's Big Winner, Besides the Pittsburgh Steelers: The National Football League. The industry's most important partner delivered. Again.
Super Bowl XLIII scored 89.2 million guacamole dippers for NBC from 7-10 p.m. ET, Nielsen estimates showed. Total viewer numbers for the game, which kicked off around 6:30 p.m., and ended after 10 p.m., weren't yet known. NBC said the game posted a overnight 42.1 rating, about 5 percent down from last year when the perfection-seeking New England Patriots starred, and about even with 2007's Super Bowl XLI.
Say, Did Bruce Springsteen Really Say "Guacamole Dip" on Live TV? Ask the 86 million who tuned in the game from 8-8:30 p.m., when the Springsteen-led halftime show aired.
Say, Wasn't That a Great Finish? Don't necessarily ask Super Bowl fans, oddly enough. Close game or no, prime-time viewership peaked in the game's first half, with 96.5 million convened on the couch from 7-7:30 p.m.. In the game's last full half-hour, from 9:30-10 p.m., "only" 84.3 million were tuned in.