Record-setting Super Bowl viewership

I remember distinctly an Alan Alda appearance on the Late Show when David Letterman brought up the historic M*A*S*H finale which, until last Sunday's big game, had been the most-watched television program in history.

"It will never happen again," Alda said, noting that the 1983 broadcast was before the Internet and 500 cable channels.

We've been hearing for years about audience fragmentation and narrow-casting to niche audiences. Often, commentators would write wistfully that television had lost its power to bring whole nations together in one shared experience. So I was a little surprised that, while the record-setting numbers were reported widely, there wasn't a great deal of analysis of why it happened.

After a little bit of digging, I found that those who were interested in exploring reasons for the large viewership pretty much agreed on these points:

1. The US population has increased 30% since 1983, so there are many more potential viewers. In fact, the audience for M*A*S*H reached 60% of the total TV audience. Last Sunday's Super Bowl had more viewers (106.5 vs. 106 million) but a much lower percentage (45%) of the audience.

2. Despite the two teams being from small television markets, national interest in the game was high due to a compelling match up. Ratings were even higher than those for the Giants/Patriots game, teams from huge population areas.

3. Weather may not have been a factor in the game played in Miami, but likely was in keeping people at home watching. The east coast was being blanketed with snow. The audience share in Washington DC was even larger than that in Indianapolis.

Whatever the reason, it's good to see what is now being called "old media" can still deliver a nationwide event.