Super Bowl 50 produced some super-sized ratings: The broadcast was the third most-watched NFL championship ever, though it was down from last year's record-setting matchup.

Sunday's showdown between the Denver Broncos and the Carolina Panthers was a low-scoring one, with Denver and Peyton Manning eventually edging Cam Newton's Panthers 24-10. Thanks to that limited action, the broadcast pulled in an average of 111.9 million viewers, good for third place on the all-time Super Bowl ratings chart -- but also the third most-watched program in Nielsen TV history, too.

Though that would be a coveted superlative for any other event, the Super Bowl has been known to top itself year after year, and the NFL is probably a bit disappointed that its latest event failed to set any new records. The 2015 game between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks holds onto its crown, with a whopping 114.4 million viewers, which topped the previous year's then-record-setting 112.2 million viewers. (That 2015 Super Bowl is also the most-watched program in the U.S. of all-time.)

Despite failing to reach new heights, Sunday's broadcast still managed to pull in some in jaw-dropping numbers, nabbing a 49 rating and a 73 share among all U.S. TV-viewing households. Not too shabby.

CBS's post-Super Bowl offerings also generated some strong -- if not earth-shattering -- results, with "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" attracting 21.1 million viewers (slightly lower than expectations), and "The Late Late Show With James Corden" notching 4.97 million viewers. Both numbers were new records for each series.

[via: The Hollywood Reporter]

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