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Super Bowl XLIX Made Television History With Record Viewers

Super Bowl XLIX's ratings were higher than any other program in TV history.

Super Bowl XLIX Made Television History With Record Viewers
Getty Images / Rob Carr

The only thing rivaling the New England Patriots' win over the Seattle Seahawks in Sunday's Super Bowl was the ratings it brought in for NBC.

The network pulled in a record 114.4 million viewers, making Super Bowl XLIX the most-watched event in U.S. television history. 

Last year's match-up between the Seahawks and Denver Broncos brought in 112.2 million viewers for Fox.

Maybe this year's viewing totals will make advertisers feel a little better about the $4.5 million dollars they shelled out for every 30 seconds of air time.

The game spiked to 120.8 million viewers, thanks to a climactic conclusion.

The extremely close game and nail-biting fourth quarter might also be the reason NBC was able to retain those viewers for so long. Fox wasn't so lucky with last year's 43-8 blowout win for the Seahawks.

Katy Perry's — let's call it "unique" — halftime show also did well, with 118.5 million people tuning in to watch her perform alongside Missy Elliott and Lenny Kravitz. That's up more than 3 million viewers from Bruno Mars' and The Red Hot Chili Peppers' performance last year.

The Super Bowl also gave NBC's "The Blacklist" a boost as well. Thanks to the network moving it over to the post-game time slot, it raked in 26.5 million viewers and earned the highest rating for a scripted show since the "Friends" finale in 2004.

This video includes images from Getty Images.