The Office Scores Record Ratings Following Super Bowl XLIII  2/2/09

'THE OFFICE' SCORES RECORD RATINGS FOLLOWING SUPER BOWL XLIII

THE SPECIAL ONE-HOUR EPISODE OF 'THE OFFICE' HITS NEW SERIES HIGHS IN ALL KEY MEASURES, AND DELIVERS THE TOP RESULTS FOR ANY NBC ENTERTAINMENT TELECAST SINCE MAY 2004

AN AVERAGE 22.0 MILLION PERSONS WATCHED 'THE OFFICE,' WITH AN ESTIMATED 37.7 MILLION WATCHING ALL OR PART OF THE TELECAST

Universal City, California February 2, 2009 Last night, the special one-hour telecast of "The Office," which aired following NBC Sports' coverage of Super Bowl XLIII, set new ratings records for the award-winning comedy, according to time zone-adjusted "fast national" "live plus same day" viewing figures from Nielsen Media Research.

Sunday from 10:40-11:40 p.m. ET, "The Office" averaged a 10.6 rating in adults 18-49 and 22.0 million viewers overall. This marks a new series record for "The Office" and the highest 18-49 rating and biggest overall viewership for any NBC entertainment telecast in more than four and a half years (since the May 13, 2004 telecast of "ER").

An estimated 37.7 million persons watched all or part of Sunday's telecast of "The Office" (six minutes or more).

In adults 18-34, "The Office" delivered a 12.5 rating last night, making it the top-rated entertainment telecast of the season in that valuable demographic. In adults 18-49, Sunday's telecast of "The Office" is the #3 entertainment telecast of the season on any network, behind only the Tuesday and Wednesday season premieres of "American Idol."

The 10.6 rating in adults 18-49 and 22.0 million viewers overall for Sunday's telecast of "The Office" roughly doubled the show's prior "live plus same day" record numbers (a 5.1 rating in adults 18-49, 11.2 million viewers overall).

Since its original debut on NBC in March 2005, "The Office" has established itself as one of television's most-honored comedy series, having earned such awards as the 2006 Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series, the 2006 Peabody Award, the 2006 and 2009 AFI Honors, the Producers Guild Award, the Writers Guild Award, the SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy and the Television Critic's Association Award for Outstanding Achievement in Comedy.

Note that all national ratings are "live plus same day" unless otherwise indicated.

Source: NBC Press Release

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