Super Bowl XLIX isn't the most-watched broadcast in US history, despite what Glendale says

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Super Bowl LVII is coming to Glendale, but it may have a long way to go before it can compete with the city's last Big Game.

The city tweeted a #FlashBackFriday post, throwing back to 2015 when it held Super Bowl XLIX. In it, the city claimed the game was seen by 114.4 million viewers and holds the title of the "most-watched program in American television history."

How true is the claim? 12News dug into historical viewership data to VERIFY.

The question

Is Super Bowl XLIX the most-watched program in American television history?

Our sources

• Nielsen Media Research
• CBS
• NBC

The answer

No, Super Bowl XLIX is not the most-watched program in American television history. However, it got really close.

What we found

Unfortunately for Glendale, this claim is false due to the city's poorly worded tweet.

Super Bowl XLIX does hold the record for being the most-watched Super Bowl of all time. Nielsen estimated the game caught the attention of ~114.4 million people.

However, Super Bowl XLIX is not the "most-watched program in American television history" as the city claims.

That title goes to the Apollo 11 spaceflight. The moon landing attracted somewhere between 125 million and 150 million viewers, according to NBC and CBS respectively.

The moon landing had the benefit of being broadcast on numerous networks across the U.S., while Super Bowl XLIX was only broadcast on NBC. The game does hold the title of being the all-time most-watched U.S. television program broadcast by a single network.

While the title of "all-time most-watched single-network television broadcast in the United States" may be a mouthful, it's still an excellent title for Super Bowl XLIX to hold. It's just not the title Glendale claimed the game held.

VERIFY

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