Fast National ratings for Sunday, February 1, 2015.
Super Bowl XLIX, a genuine thriller between the two top teams in the NFL, is likely to take its place as the most watched program in TV history when full numbers are announced later today. For now, all we can say with certainty is that it rather handily dominated Sunday night in all measures.
Early NBC estimates have the Patriots' victory over the Seahawks up by 4 percent from last year's game and up 3 percent over over the 2013 Super Bowl, the previous record-holder. That's impressive and it's going to be even more impressive when we have the full numbers in a bit.
Meanwhile, NBC is estimated that the post-game airing of “The Blacklist” was on-target to be the top-rated post-Super Bowl telecast… in three years.
That's less impressive, as NBC is only putting “The Blacklist” up 9 percent from last year's “New Girl.”
Remembering that these are time period figures and NOT program averages — This is a particularly important clarification given that one of the two Super Bowl teams hails from a time zone in which only virtually none of the game was in primetime — here are your Fast National figures for Sunday night.
Actual Super Bowl and “Blacklist” ratings will be posted later in the day.
Among adults 18-49, NBC averaged a 30.9 rating for Sunday primetime. Again, don't confuse that with the Super Bowl or “Blacklist.” That's more than 20-times higher than the combined totals for ABC (0.6), FOX (0.5) and CBS (0.4) in the key demographic.
Overall, NBC averaged an estimated 89.79 million viewers and a 38.6 rating/59 share for Sunday night. That's a lot. And, again, it's not a number for the Super Bowl, which will be vastly higher than that. CBS was second with 3.19 million viewers and a 2.1/3, followed by ABC's 2.535 million and 1.5/2. FOX averaged 1.335 million viewers and a 0.7/1 for the night.
7 p.m. – In the 7 p.m. hour, the only hour that included Super Bowl coverage for the entire country, NBC averaged 107.23 million viewers and a 36.2 rating among adults 18-49. That won the hour. That also included 15 minutes of “Blacklist” coverage on the left side of the country. CBS' repeat of “60 Minutes” averaged nearly 2.8 million viewers for second and a 0.3 key demo rating for fourth. ABC's “America's Funniest Home Videos” repeat and FOX's repeats of “Bob's Burgers” and “The Simpsons” both averaged 0.4 key demo ratings, with ABC averaged 2.38 million viewers to the 1.21 million viewers for FOX.
8 p.m. – NBC's Super Bowl coverage and “Blacklist” for some of the country averaged 102.79 million viewers and a 35.1 rating among adults 18-49 for the 8 p.m. hour. CBS' “NCIS” repeat averaged 2.79 million viewers for second and a 0.3 rating among adults 18-49 for fourth. Again, ABC's “America's Funniest Home Videos” repeat and FOX's repeats “The Simpsons” and “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” tied for second in the key demo with a 0.5 rating, with ABC averaged 2.45 million viewers to FOX's 1.53 million.
9 p.m. – The 9 p.m. coverage on NBC — Super Bowl and Jimmy Fallon and whatnot — averaged 96.95 million viewers and a 33.7 rating among adults 18-49. CBS' “CSI” repeat averaged 3.01 million viewers for second and a 0.4 key demo rating for fourth. ABC's “Shark Tank” repeat and FOX's “Family Guy” and “Bob's Burgers” repeats both averaged a 0.5 key demo rating for second, with ABC averaging 1.97 million viewers to the 1.27 million for FOX.
10 p.m. – NBC won the 10 p.m. hour with 52.18 million viewers and an 18.6 rating among adults 18-49. CBS' “Criminal Minds” repeat was second with 4.145 million viewers and third with a 0.7 key demo rating, compared to the 3.33 million viewers and 1.0 key demo rating for ABC's “Shark Tank.”
All ratings information comes from preliminary Fast National Nielsen data, which includes live and same-day DVR viewing. All numbers are subject to change, particularly in the case of live events.