TV Ratings: Who dat dominated Super Bowl Sunday? CBS

 Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints

Credit: David J. Phillip/AP

Fast National ratings for Sunday, February 7, 2010.

We promise we'll never use "Who dat?" in a headline every again, but if you aren't going to do it today, when can you do it?

The New Orleans Saints won their first Super Bowl title on Sunday night, defeating the Indianapolis Colts. Since none of the other major networks really bothered to counter-program the Super Bowl, it's no surprise that CBS dominated primetime, as early estimates have this as the highest rated Super Bowl in decades.

Note that these ratings are time-period data and shouldn't be taken as representing the pure audience for the Super Bowl itself, merely its Fast Nationals performance within the primetime hours. Stay tuned to HitFix later in the day for final figures.

Among adults 18-49, CBS did a 29.7 rating for the night. We're not great with math, but we know that was 29.7-times higher than the 1.0 rating for FOX in the key demographic. ABC's 0.9 rating was third, with NBC's 0.5 rating taking fourth.

Overall, CBS averaged an estimated 80.53 million viewers in the primetime hours, along with a 35.0 rating/54 share. ABC was a rather distant second with a 2.0/3 and nearly 3.2 million viewers. FOX's 1.4/2 and the 1.2/2 for NBC followed.

Since the Super Bowl began at 6:30 p.m. ET and 3:30 p.m. PT, the game was already underway in the 7 p.m. hour, allowing CBS to start the night in first with a 41.4/63 and a 35.0 rating in the 18-49 demo, averaging 97.53 million viewers. ABC's repeat of "America's Funniest Home Videos" was second with a 2.5/4. Two episodes of "'Til Death" on FOX had a 1.0/2 for fourth, beating NBC's "The Biggest Loser."

CBS slipped slightly to a 4.0/6/60 for the Super Bowl in the 8 p.m. hour, with a 34.9 demo rating and 96.26 million viewers. ABC's repeats of "The Middle" and "Modern Family" were second with a 1.6/2, nipping FOX's "The Simpsons" and "Cleveland Show" repeats. NBC's "The Biggest Loser" was fifth with a 1.1/2.

The Super Bowl did a 39.5/58 for CBS in the 9 p.m. hour, with a 33.5 demo rating and 90.22 million viewers. FOX's "Family Guy" and "American Dad" repeats did a 1.7/3, just beating the 1.7/2 for ABC's "Modern Family" and "Cougar Town" repeats. NBC's "The Biggest Loser" trailed.

In the 10 p.m. hour, CBS had an 18.6/32 for the premiere of "Undercover Boss," which averaged 38.11 million viewers and a 15.6 demo rating in early numbers. ABC's pair of "Modern Family" repeats did a 2.3/4 for second. NBC's "The Biggest Loser" was third.

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.

Daniel Fienberg
Executive Editor

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A long-time member of the TCA Board and a longer-time blogger of "American Idol," Dan Fienberg writes about TV, except for when he writes about movies or sometimes writes about the Red Sox. But never music. He would sound stupid talking about music.