Ratings: Super Bowl Gets Third-Highest Rating Ever; The Voice Benefits Big-Time from Lead-In (omg!)

Did the Super Bowl set a viewership record for a third year in a row? Nope. Apparently, America's most-watched TV event slipped a little.

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Super Bowl XLVI ? in which the New York Giants defeated the New England Patriots ? posted a 47.8 overnight rating and a 71 share ? the third-highest ever, according to Nielsen overnight data released early Monday. The only two to do better were last year's Super Bowl and Super Bowl XXI. Viewership numbers are due later in the day.

Super Bowl XLV is most-watched TV program in U.S. history

Last year, Super Bowl XLV was seen by 111 million viewers, making it the most-watched prime-time telecast in U.S. history. And the year before that, the Super Bowl set the record for the largest U.S. TV viewing audience at 106.5 million, which topped the long-standing 106 million viewers who watched the 1983 M*A*S*H finale.

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The postgame festivities and interviews struck some viewers as abbreviated, and maybe they were, as NBC wanted to give a big springboard to The Voice's return.

Read our recap of The Voice's Season 2 premiere

NBC's singing-talent show scored a 19.4 rating and a 33 share ? a 120 percent increase compared with its first-season debut last April 26. The show also did 27 percent better than the post-Super Bowl airing of Glee last year.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/news_ratings_super_bowl_gets_third_highest_rating_ever164500315/44434458/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/ratings-super-bowl-gets-third-highest-rating-ever-164500315.html

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