(Los Angeles, CA)  --  Sunday's Super Bowl game between the Saints and Colts has scored a historic ratings touchdown.  The Nielsen Company reports 106-point-five million people watched the contest, topping the former record holder, the 1983 finale of "MASH."  Nielsen overnight data found 68-percent of American households that had a TV set turned on were watching the game.  Last year's contest in which Pittsburgh beat Arizona had about ten-percent fewer viewers at 98-point-seven million.

Nielsen numbers indicate there were more TV sets, 82-percent, tuned to the big game in the Big Easy than any other major city in the U.S.  Indianapolis had 74-percent of sets tuned to the game to watch their Colts lose.  That's only the fourth highest rating in the nation behind Washington, DC and Nashville.