Super Bowl XLIV became the most watched program in television history, breaking the 27-year-old standard set by the final episode of the CBS-TV series "M*A*S*H."

The back-and-forth 31-17 Saints victory was watched by an average of 106.5 million viewers, the Nielsen Co. said Monday, surpassing the 105.97 million viewers who tuned in to the 2½-hour finale of M*A*S*H in 1983. However, because there are 114.9 million homes with TV sets, compared to only 83.3 million in '83, the M*A*S*H finale had a 77 percent share of TV sets turned on vs. Super Bowl XLIV's 68 percent audience share.

Nielsen estimated that a total of 153.4 viewers tuned in to the game at some point.

Super Bowl XLIV received a 45.0 rating (estimated percentage of TV households watching), the highest in 14 years and 7 percent higher than the 42.0 achieved by the Steelers-Cardinals Super Bowl last year. The last time a higher rating was reached was Super XXX between Pittsburgh and Dallas. The M*A*S*H finaled had a 60.2 rating.

The Super Bowl XLIV audience figures are estimates and may be revised when Nielsen analyzes more data.