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Thrilling finish to Super Bowl XLIII leads to highest TV ratings

NEW YORK -- Upon further review, Nielsen Media Research now says the Super Bowl between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals was the most-watched in history.

Nielsen said 98.7 million people, on average, were watching Pittsburgh's 27-23 victory Sunday night. That beats the 97.5 million who watched the 2008 game, which held the record for the most popular Super Bowl.

On Monday, Nielsen had reported that this year's game had 95.4 million viewers -- impressive but not a record-setter.

Nielsen explained the discrepancy of more than 3 million viewers by saying a more complete check of their records revealed additional viewership on some digital tier networks. The company hadn't been aware that they were showing the game.

Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press

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