Fox Sports' broadcast of Super Bowl XXXIII earned a
40.2/61 Nielsen national rating, making it the sixth most-
watched program in TV history in terms of total viewership,
with an estimated total audience of roughly 127.5 million.
Fox earned a 30.8 prime-time rating among adults 18-49,
which increased the network's season-to-date average rating
to 5.3 in the demo, placing it in a tie with NBC for first
place among all networks, marking the first time that Fox
has done so in that category (Fox).
REAX: The game averaged a 40.2 rating for the first
half-hour, which then increased to a game high of 41.5 in
the second quarter before declining to a 38.1 by the second
half. The rating saw a typical drop, from 41.2/62 to a
39.4/59, during the halftime show (Stephen Battaglio,
HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 2/2). In N.Y., Richard Sandomir writes
that the 40.2/61 final rating makes the game the "seventh-
lowest-rated" Super Bowl ever, despite the 127.5 million
total viewers. Fox Sports Senior VP/Media Relations Vince
Wladika: "Whether it's the second lowest of the 90's, we
don't care. Advertisers care about total audience" (N.Y.
TIMES, 2/2). In N.Y., Don Kaplan notes that last year's
Super Bowl telecast on NBC drew "about" 133.4 million
viewers. Seltel's Marc Berman: "I think the overall feeling
is that this year's Super Bowl numbers kind of mirror what's
happening with broadcast television. ... I would imagine if
the Jets would have gotten into the game the ratings would
have been higher nationally" (N.Y. POST, 2/2). In Atlanta,
Prentis Rogers reports that Atlanta was the highest-rated
market in the U.S with a 58.2/79. While "impressive," the
numbers were "short of the optimistic projections." WAGA-
Fox VP Kathy Soifer: "Some of us might have gotten a little
overzealous throwing out numbers" (ATL. CONSTITUTION, 2/2).
DAY-LONG FUN: Fox's seven-hour pregame ratings ranged
from a 2.1 to a 12.3. The "Kickoff Show" scored a 2.1;
"Hardcore Football" earned a 2.7; "Keith Olbermann's All-
Access" earned a 4.1 and John Madden's "All-Millennium Team"
earned a 5.9. The four-hour "NFL on Fox" pregame came
earned a 12.3 (N.Y. TIMES, 2/2). In Boston, Howard Manly
notes that Fox's in-house ads during the seven-hours of pre-
game programming numbered "around 80." Wladika: "The reason
that all networks want to have the NFL on their network is
to promote itself and earn revenue. We didn't have an
outrageous amount" (BOSTON GLOBE, 2/2). Fox's post-game
debut of "The Family Guy" received a 12.6/21, making it the
highest rated post-Super Bowl premiere since NBC's '93 debut
of "Homicide" (Sally Beatty, WALL STREET JOURNAL, 2/2).
ARE YOU SURE IT'S PLUGGED IN?: In Atlanta, "tens of
thousands" of metro residents were faced with a cable and
electricity power outage during the Super Bowl broadcast.
Some viewers lost service from MediaOne just before the coin
toss until after the post-game interviews. MediaOne's Reg
Griffin estimated about 20,000 customers were without
service "for part or all of the game." MediaOne, citing an
electrical fire as the cause of the outage, will give
inconvenienced customers a two-week credit on their next
cable bill (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 2/2). An additional
12,000 MediaOne customers in seven communities near Boston
had a similar cable outage during the game. MediaOne
spokesman Richard Jenkinson said a computer glitch sent out
faulty data to certain set-top cable boxes that made them
incapable of receiving signals. Customers will receive $10
off on their next bill (BOSTON GLOBE, 2/2).