Super Bowl 50 fell short of setting a new viewership record, with an average 111.9 million viewers watching CBS’ coverage of the big game Sunday night.
That made it the third-most-watched program in TV history, ranking behind last year’s Super Bowl, which marked an all-time high 114.4 million viewers, and the 112.2 million viewers who tuned in for the 2014 game.
Viewership for the game — which saw the Denver Broncos defeat the Carolina Panthers 24-10 in Peyton Manning’s likely final game — peaked with 115.5 million viewers from 8:30 to 9 p.m., around the time of the halftime show starring Coldplay, Beyoncé and Bruno Mars.
Predictably, the massive audience also gave “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” its most-watched episode, averaging 21.1 million viewers — a record for the “Late Show” franchise under any host. The live episode featured guests Tina Fey, Margot Robbie and Will Ferrell.
“The Late Late Show with James Corden” drew nearly 5 million viewers for its special post-game show, its largest audience since its 1995 debut and up 17 percent from Craig Ferguson’s post-Super Bowl show in 2013.