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From Super Bowl LVIII to the moon landing, here are TV’s most-watched broadcasts
In a rundown of the most-watched broadcasts in history, Super Bowl games make up nearly all of the top 30.
More people watched the Kansas City Chiefs win their second straight Super Bowl than have watched the big game in any previous year, with Taylor Swift and Usher bringing their fans to help drive record ratings for the 2024 NFL championship.
But the big game’s viewership still pales in comparison to a TV event that took place more than a half century ago: The Apollo 11 moon landing, as Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to step foot on the lunar surface.
How many people watched the Super Bowl?
CBS Sports coverage of Super Bowl LVIII brought in an estimated 123.7 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research. The TV broadcast averaged 120.3 million viewers on CBS alone, “making it the largest audience for a single-network telecast to date,” Nielsen said Tuesday in a news release.
How many people watched the Apollo 11 moon landing?
After a four-day trip to reach the moon, the Lunar Module landed on July 20, 1969. According to the National Air and Space Museum, among other sources, an estimated 650 million people around the globe watched as Armstrong proclaimed, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” An estimated 125 million to 150 million Americans watched the astronauts set foot on the moon, according to multiple published reports.
Other non-Super Bowl events that drew massive TV audiences include Richard Nixon’s resignation as U.S. president on Aug. 8, 1974, after the Watergate scandal. The 16-minute Oval Office address reportedly had 110 million people glued to their screens.
The final episode of the television show M*A*S*H, starring Alan Alda, aired on on Feb. 28, 1983, and had 105.9 million viewers, or an estimated 60% of U.S. households tuning their TV channels to CBS.
How do 2024 Super Bowl ratings compare to previous years?
Last year’s Super Bowl was previously the most watched ever after Nielsen adjusted its figures by 2.1 million, saying that 115.1 million people tuned in, according to a statement by Fox Sports, which broadcast the game. The updated count was higher than the 101.5 million viewers in 2022, and moved Super Bowl LVII above Super Bowl XLIX in 2015 which had 114.8 million folks watching.
The Taylor Swift effect and the halftime show
Twenty percent of those surveyed by market research firm Numerator said they were rooting for Travis Kelce because of his relationship with Taylor Swift. A majority, or 82% of Super Bowl watchers viewed the halftime show, and 71% tuned in for the fourth quarter.
Top social media posts
The top post on social media came from Beyoncé, with the singer driving over 1.3 million engagements on Instagram during the game — which ran from 7 p.m. until midnight — with her “break the internet” Verizon Ad, according to Comscore. Coming in second, was a post from Sportscenter showing Kelce’s angry reaction over a fumble in which he appears to yell at Kansas City Chiefs Coach Andy Reid, which drew more than 340,000 engagements. A post from the NFL showing celebrities at the game placed third with 294,000 viewers.
BALTIMORE — One person was killed and nine others injured in a shooting and fiery crash in the Baltimore suburb of Towson Tuesday night, authorities said.
Law enforcement responded at around 7:15 p.m. in the 8500 block of Loch Raven Boulevard, Baltimore County Police Chief Robert McCullough said in a news briefing.
“It appears to be a mass shooting incident,” McCullough told reporters. “We have multiple persons who were shot. Right now, we are determining the circumstances and the conditions in this case.”
The first arriving officer found a vehicle on its side in flames near a funeral home, McCullough said, and then several gunshot victims were found in the area.
“There appears to be some type of incident that led to the vehicle crashing and catching on fire,” McCollough said. “Investigators are looking into the circumstances leading up to that.”
The name of the person killed and the manner of death was not released, nor were the conditions of the nine people injured. McCollough did not specify how many of the nine people injured were gunshot victims.
At this time, investigators believe this was an isolated and targeted incident, with no further threat to the community, he added. It’s unclear if any suspects have been arrested. There was no word on a possible motive.
“We will leave no stone unturned and we will dedicate every resource to this,” McCullough said. “We don’t generally see incidents like this in our community in Baltimore County. I assure you as your police chief that we will put all resources toward trying to clear this case.”
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was at the scene assisting police, as was the Baltimore County Fire Department.
“This is an incident that is shocking, particularly for those of us in Baltimore County,” said Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski. “These types of incidents are unheard of here, so it really shocks the conscience. However, we want our residents to know that we are, as always, fully committed to ensuring that both our fire and police departments have the full support and all the resources they need from the Baltimore County government to ensure that they bring this investigation to a conclusion.”
Anyone with information is asked to call Baltimore County Police at 410-887-4636.
President-elect Donald Trump announced he will nominate Herschel Walker, the former football player whose 2022 Senate run was plagued by controversy, to serve as U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas.
“Herschel has spent decades serving as an Ambassador to our Nation’s youth, our men and women in the Military, and athletes at home and abroad,” Trump said on social media Tuesday night.
Walker would need to be confirmed by the Senate to assume the role. The Senate has not confirmed a U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas in over a decade. Former President Barack Obama had nominated Cassandra Butts for the role in 2014, but the Senate never even brought her nomination up for a vote, according to The Associated Press. She died in 2016.
Trump in his first term nominated Doug Manchester in 2017 for the ambassador role, but his nomination stalled for over two years. CBS News in 2019 also uncovered evidence of a possible pay-to-play scheme for the role. He eventually withdrew and Trump went on to nominate William Douglass in 2020. Douglass’ nomination was withdrawn by President Biden when he took office, and Mr. Biden in turn nominated Calvin Smyre, who has not been confirmed by the Senate.
Absent an official ambassador to the Bahamas, Kimberly Furnish currently serves in the role of Chargé d’Affaires.
Walker rose to national prominence as a star running back for the Georgia Bulldogs, winning the Heisman trophy in 1982. He spent his first few years of professional ball in the United States Football League before it folded, and then moved on to the NFL.
Walker reentered the national spotlight when, at Trump’s urging, he challenged Georgia’s Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock for his seat in 2022. The race featured several controversies, including two women claiming that Walker — who was running as an anti-abortion candidate — had paid for them to get abortions.
Walker denied both allegations.
In one instance, Walker admitted to writing a check for a woman who said he paid for her to get an abortion in 2009, but he said he hadn’t known what the money was for.
Another woman claimed Walker paid her to get an abortion while the two carried out a six-year relationship while he was married to another woman and playing in the NFL. During a news conference back in 2022, she said she couldn’t go through with the procedure when she went to get it herself, so Walker took her to a clinic in the Dallas area the next day and waited for her while she got the abortion.
“This was a lie a week ago and it is a lie today,” Walker said at the time following an interview the woman gave a week after the initial news conference.
Warnock would go on to win the election in a runoff after neither candidate received more than 50% of the vote on election day.
Aaron Navarro and
contributed to this report.
BALTIMORE — One person was killed and nine others injured in a mass shooting in the Baltimore suburb of Towson Tuesday night, authorities said.
Law enforcement responded at around 7:15 p.m. in the 8500 block of Loch Raven Boulevard, Baltimore County Police Chief Robert McCullough said in a news briefing.
“It appears to be a mass shooting incident,” Baltimore County Police Chief Robert McCullough told reporters. “We have multiple persons who were shot. Right now, we are determining the circumstances and the conditions in this case.”
The first arriving officer found a vehicle on its side in flames, McCullough said, and then several gunshot victims were found in the area. The name of the person killed was not released, and the conditions of the nine people injured was unknown.
At this time, investigators believe this was an isolated and targeted incident, with no further threat to community at this point, he added. It’s unclear if any suspects have been arrested.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is at the scene assisting police, as was the Baltimore County Fire Department.
Anyone with information is asked to call Baltimore County Police at 410-887-4636.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
