Last year’s matchup between the Patriots and the Giants was viewed by a record 97.5 million people in the U.S. As expected, the Super Bowl was the most-watched TV broadcast in 2008. Networks broadcasting the Super Bowl often use the game as a lead-in for one of their regular shows. This year, NBC will broadcast a one-hour episode of The Office. Last year, 29.1 million viewers stuck around after the game to watch an episode of House on FOX.

Year
Super Bowl
Avg. viewers
in millions
Show After Game
Avg. viewers
in millions

2008
FOX – …

CBS’s “CSI” and “Survivor: Gabon” were the number one- and number three-ranked primetime telecasts on broadcast TV for Thursday, October 30, 2008.
ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” was sandwiched in between the two, in second place.
The season premiere of NBC’s “30 Rock” also made the top 10.

Rank
Program
Network
Viewers (P2+)

1
CSI
CBS
19,098,000

2
GREY’S ANATOMY-THU 9PM
ABC
15,319,000

3
SURVIVOR: GABON
CBS
13,015,000

4
ELEVENTH HOUR
CBS
11,248,000

5
OFFICE
NBC
9,514,000

6
E.R.
NBC
9,192,000

7
30 ROCK
NBC
8,663,000

8
UGLY BETTY
ABC
8,550,000

9
LIFE ON MARS
ABC
8,139,000

10
MY NAME IS EARL
NBC
6,269,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (October 30, 2008).

Overall, CBS won the night with an average audience of almost 14.5 million viewers, while ABC took second place with just over 10.7 million average viewers. NBC and Univision …