Super Bowl XLIV Becomes Most Watched Show in History

It looks like this year's super bowl was a huge success for CBS. So huge, in fact, that it broke viewing records. According to the Nielsen ratings company, the Sunday evening telecast was watched by a whopping 106.5 million people, a figure that beat out the previously most watched show of all time, the MASH series finale.

So what made this year's Super Bowl such a hot commodity? It could have been the Saints' underdog story. Suddenly a team that has been struggling for years from hurricane-battered New Orleans was at the big game. It was a ray of sunshine for a city that has gone through so much in the past few years and the entire nation was behind them. Perhaps including some who watch the game more for the commercials than the sport. They went into the game as the true underdogs, on their first trip to the Super Bowl and expected to lose to the Colts according to many. But not even Peyton Manning could stop the Saints from showing the world that New Orleans is back, as Tom Benson proclaimed while raising the trophy over his head.

The hype over the game that had been building up all season definitely paid off for CBS and ultimately its advertisers who as every year rolled out their cleverly perfected ads during the game. The night's favorite spot was a Doritos commercial that featured a young boy slapping his mother's date and telling him to keep his hands off his mom and his Doritos. On the other side of the spectrum, Tim Tebow's much hyped pro-life commercial failed to resonate with viewers, probably a prime example of failure to select the appropriate audience. My personal favorites were CBS's own How I Met Your Mother spots that featured Barney Stinson, the womanizing player, holding up a sign with his phone number from the game. No doubt the show will hilariously incorporate that into Monday night's episode.

Another big draw was the halftime performance by the legendary The Who. They performed a medley of their biggest hits like "Baba O'Reilly" and "Won't Get Fooled Again." It was en epic 12 minutes between a truly epic football game. Despite the sex offender postcards sent to homes in Miami from child abuse organizations warning families that Pete Townshend, a registered sex offender, was in town, the show was family friendly compared to past scandalous performances.

Celebrities from all over also flocked to Miami to take in the game. Among the stars in attendance, were Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony and of course, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, once again squashing break-up rumors and showing their support for the Saints. Kim Kardashian was also on hand at the game and was later caught by TMZ out celebrating with Saints running back Reggie Bush.

The show had something for everyone, which explains the big numbers. It's now set the bar a little higher for other big TV events to come.