The New Orleans Saints have something else to celebrate this week besides their surprising 31-17 upset over the AFC champion, the Indianapolis Colts, on Sunday at Super Bowl XLIV at the Sun Life Stadium in Miami. According to Nielsen, the ratings system used to track television viewing habits in the U.S., the game followed ‘Avator’s lead at the box office by beating the previous record holder and becoming the most watched program in American television history.

‘Goodbye, Farewell and Amen,’ the series finale of the hit television comedy series ‘M*A*S*H,’ which aired in 1983 after 11 seasons on CBS, held the record for being the most watched TV show for 27 years. Approximately 105.97 million viewers tuned in to see how the show, which was based on the 1970 movie and the 1968 novel, would end. Contrastingly, this year’s Super Bowl, which also aired on CBS, pulled in 106.5 million viewers.

The two teams had a hard time securing the record, as there are 114.9 million homes in the U.S. that have televisions, which is 32 million more than when the ‘M*A*S*H’ finale aired. There are also many more channel options now as opposed to the early ’80s, not including DVR and DVD players.

The Saints, who are celebrating its first Super Bowl win in its franchise history, also beat out the previous record set for the amount of viewers who watched the most important game in the NFL. Last year, 98.7 million people watched the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Arizona Cardinals 27-23 at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.

Written by: Karen Benardello