Record 97.5 mil watch Super Bowl

The New York Giants' last-minute 17-14 nail-biter Sunday over the previously undefeated New England Patriots was the most-watched Super Bowl ever, with an estimated 97.5 million viewers having tuned in, according to Nielsen Media Research numbers released Monday.

In Nielsen's overnight data, Super Bowl XLII did a 43.3 rating/65 share.

Sunday's telecast on Fox broke the old Super Bowl record of 94.08 million who watched the Dallas Cowboys beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1996. Only one other show was watched by more people, the 1983 "M*A*S*H" finale on CBS, which garnered 106 million viewers.

Fox reaped the rewards of this year's match-up by charging $2.7 million for 30 seconds of advertising time on the game. (See below our picks of this year's best Super Bowl commercials.)

In the Boston market, 81% of all TV sets were tuned in to the game. In New York, it was 67%.

The audience peaked in the fourth quarter between 9:30 and 10 p.m. ET, with 105.7 million people watching, Nielsen said.