According to Nielsen ratings the Fox broadcast of Super Bowl XLV averaged 111 million viewers during the primetime hours on Sunday, Feb. 6, 2011. The figure outweighed last year’s viewership of Super Bowl XLIV which averaged 106.5 million viewers.
Super Bowl XLV also set a record for the most watched program in television history. However, don’t confuse viewership with ratings, of which the final episode of M.A.S.H. still has reign over any other program.
Sunday, the Green Bay Packers defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-25, giving Green Bay 4 wins out of the five times they have appeared in the Super Bowl.
The win also marks the return of the Vince Lombardi trophy to Green Bay, after the Packers defeated the New England Patriots in Louisiana in Super Bowl XXXI. Green Bay won the first modern era Super Bowl in 1967.
(FYI: Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl raked in over 9 million viewers.)