--- --- # Super Bowl XLIX Was the Most-Watched TV Show Ever in the U.S.  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Feb 2, 2015 9:57 PM UTC  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Feb 2, 2015 9:57 PM UTC Super Bowl XLIX was the most-watched television program in U.S. history with over 114 million viewers, NBC announced Monday. A total of 114.4 million people watched the New England Patriots beat the Seattle Seahawks 28-24, some 2.2 million people more than watched last year’s game, according to data from Nielsen. That makes it the highest-rated Super Bowl in 30 seasons. (Its 47.5/71 rating puts it behind only the Super Bowls from 1982, 1983 and 1986.) But even more people tuned in for Katy Perry’s halftime show, which drew 118.5 million viewers — 3 million more than last year’s Bruno Mars halftime show, and the most-watched halftime show ever (at least since the current version of the show, featuring popular performers, began in 1991). Mark Lazarus, the chairman of the NBC Sports Group, called the Super Bowl “the most dominant and consistent property on television.” That historic audience also paid off for NBC’s _The Blacklist_, whose post-Bowl telecast drew a series record of 26.5 million people. That makes it the network’s most-watched scripted program in a decade behind _ER_, which averaged 28.3 million people on the night of the _Friends_ series finale. ### See the Best Moments From the Super Bowl 2015 Halftime Show  Katy Perry performs onstage during the Pepsi Super Bowl XLIX Halftime Show at University of Phoenix Stadium on Feb. 1, 2015 in Glendale, Ariz. Christopher Polk—Getty Images  Katy Perry performs during the Pepsi Super Bowl XLIX Halftime Show at University of Phoenix Stadium on Feb. 1, 2015 in Glendale, Ariz. Christian Petersen—Getty Images  Katy Perry performs during the Pepsi Super Bowl XLIX Halftime Show at University of Phoenix Stadium on Feb. 1, 2015 in Glendale, Ariz. Christian Petersen—Getty Images  Katy Perry performs during the Pepsi Super Bowl XLIX Halftime Show at University of Phoenix Stadium on Feb. 1, 2015 in Glendale, Ariz. Tom Pennington—Getty Images  Katy Perry performs during halftime of NFL Super Bowl XLIX football game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots on Feb. 1, 2015 in Glendale, Ariz. Charlie Riedel—AP  Katy Perry performs during the Pepsi Super Bowl XLIX Halftime Show at University of Phoenix Stadium on Feb. 1, 2015 in Glendale, Ariz. Rob Carr—Getty Images  Katy Perry, right, and Lenny Kravitz perform during halftime of the NFL Super Bowl XLIX football game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots on Feb. 1, 2015 in Glendale, Ariz. Matt Slocum—AP  Katy Perry performs onstage during the Pepsi Super Bowl XLIX Halftime Show at University of Phoenix Stadiumon Feb. 1, 2015 in Glendale, Ariz. Jeff Kravitz—FilmMagic/Getty Images  Katy Perry, left, and Missy Elliott perform during halftime of NFL Super Bowl XLIX football game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots on Feb. 1, 2015 in Glendale, Ariz. David J. Phillip—AP  Katy Perry performs during the Pepsi Super Bowl XLIX Halftime Show at University of Phoenix Stadium on Feb. 1, 2015 in Glendale, Ariz. Rob Carr—Getty Images  Katy Perry performs during the Pepsi Super Bowl XLIX Halftime Show at University of Phoenix Stadiumon Feb. 1, 2015 in Glendale, Ariz. Harry How—Getty Images Super Bowl XLIX Was the Most-Watched Show in U.S. TV History ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3692969/super-bowl-xlix-most-watched-viewers/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3692969/super-bowl-xlix-most-watched-viewers/"},"headline":"Super Bowl XLIX Was the Most-Watched TV Show Ever in the U.S.","datePublished":"2015-02-02T21:57:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:05:53.713Z","description":"114.4 million people watched the game, with even more tuning in for the halftime show","url":"https://time.com/3692969/super-bowl-xlix-most-watched-viewers/","keywords":["Television","Katy Perry","Super Bowl topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nolan Feeney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3692969/super-bowl-xlix-most-watched-viewers/","name":"Super Bowl XLIX Was the Most-Watched TV Show Ever in the U.S."}}]}] ```