FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NFL
3/27/01
CONTACTS:
BRIAN McCARTHY, NFL
212/450-2069, mccarthyb@nfl.com
STEVE ALIC, NFL
212/450-2066, alics@nfl.com
AND THE OSCAR GOES TO … SUPER BOWL XXXV
Super Bowl XXXV Leads Pack of America’s Most Popular TV Programs
NEW YORK, March 27, 2001 – The Vince
Lombardi Trophy vs. Oscar? It’s no contest.
Americans would rather watch NFL players vie for the Lombardi Trophy in the Super Bowl
than watch actors and actresses accept Oscars, according to Nielsen Television Ratings.
Drawing a 40.4 Nielsen rating figure, Super Bowl XXXV, which featured the Baltimore
Ravens and New York Giants on January 29, 2001 on CBS, was the most-watched TV program
during the past 12 months. This past Sunday’s Academy Awards telecast drew a
preliminary overnight rating of 26.2.
Coincidentally, the Lombardi Trophy was sketched by a man named Oscar1, but
it is the NFL’s prized hardware that "draws" the most television viewers on
an annual basis.
Other top-rated programs during this time were CBS’ episode of Survivor
on August 23 (28.6 Nielsen Rating); the NFL’s 2001 AFC Championship Game on CBS on
January 14 (22.6); the NFL’s 2001 NFC Championship Game on Fox on January 14 (20.6);
2001 Orange Bowl on ABC (17.8); 2001 Grammy Awards on CBS (16.7); ABC’s Monday Night
Football game between the Denver Broncos and St. Louis Rams on September 4 (15.3); 2000
World Series on FOX (12.4 five-game average)2; 2000 NBA Finals on NBC (11.6
six-game average)3; and the 2001 Daytona 500 on FOX (10.0).
Source: Nielsen Television Ratings
1The Vince Lombardi Trophy was sketched by
Oscar Riedener, a Tiffany vice president of design, in 1966.
22000 World
Series’ highest single game was Game 5 which drew a 13.1 Nielsen Rating
32000 NBA
Finals’ highest single game was Game 6 which drew a 14.7 Nielsen Rating