There are few sporting events in America as popular as the Super Bowl.  Millions of Americans watch the big game every year to support their favorite team, but millions more watch for half-time spectacles and some of the year’s best commercials. In a way, the Super Bowl has become an event that has more cultural significance than the sport itself.

On this day, February 7th, in 2010, an average of 106 million (153.4 million total) people watched the Saints defeat the Colts in Super Bowl XLIV, making it the most watched program in television history. CBS broadcasted the game and featured a four-hour pregame show. The game would also feature a halftime show by The Who and well-received ads from Coca-Cola, Frito-Lay, Pepsi and others.  From a football perspective, the game had one of the greatest feel-good team stories in years, with the New Orleans Saints poised to win their first Super Bowl, a mere five years after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.

The television success of the Super Bowl was a great moment in television history and it would later be proved that the record breaking viewership numbers were not a fluke.  The following year, an average of 111 million would tune in to watch.