Super Bowl sets audience records across North America

There was nothing deflated about this year's Super Bowl ratings.

The usual amount of hype, the presence of glamour boy Tom Brady, a week of controversy, an exciting game and wild-and-crazy finish all combined to produce record ratings on both sides of the border.

Bell Media reported Monday that Sunday's game averaged 8.2 million viewers on CTV and another million watched on French-language RDS, according to Numeris overnight ratings. That exceeded the old record set three years ago by 13 per cent.

In the U.S., 114.4 million people watched the game on NBC, a 2.2 million increase over the record set last year.

But as thrilling as the last minute was, it wasn't what turned Canadians' cranks the most. The audience peaked during the half-time show, with an average of 12.2 million tuning in to see Katy Perry perform what has been compared to everything from an Olympics opening ceremony and a festival in Ancient Rome.

Overall, 19.3 million people -- or almost two in three Canadians -- watched some or all of the game.
While the game was the most-watched broadcast of any type in American history, it didn't come close to a Canadian record. That's held by the 2010 Olympic gold medal hockey final, which averaged 16.6 million viewers.