The Super Bowl ratings game may 
be a tighter competition than the actual game.
In Nielsen's early overnight numbers, Sunday's Super Bowl 50 averaged a 49.0 household rating/73 share in the 56 metered markets across the country for CBS, according to Variety.
The game's ratings peaked with a 51.0/73 for the final 15 minutes (10-10:15 p.m. ET).
Separated by mere decimal points, this year's game the third-most watched game in history. It averaged 111.9 million total viewers, peaking with 115.5 million from 8:30-9 p.m. ET for the halftime show.
That means last year’s Super Bowl with 114.4 million total viewers and 2014's big game with 112.2 million hold on the first and second-highest ratings for the game, respectively.
As far as CBS's hope to introduce its late-show lineup to new viewers after the show, it seemed to have worked. Nielsen reported that the “Late Show withStephenColbert" averaged 21.12 million total viewers, 8.4 million in the 25-to-54-year-old demographic. And the "Late Late Show with James Corden" averaged 4.97 million viewers, 2 million in the 25-to-54-year-old demo.
Advertisers, which spent about 11% or $500,000 more per 30-second spot for the game, got the extra bonus of its first live streaming. The game and all of its commercials streamed on Apple TV and Roku.
The Denver Broncos beat the Carolina Panthers 24 t0 10 on Sunday. Lady Gaga sang the national anthem, with Coldplay, Beyonce, and Bruno Mars performing in the halftime show.
Note: This article was updated with final Nielsen ratings numbers.
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