No surprise here.

Take the most popular sporting event in America. Mix in the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs and one of the NFL’s legendary franchises, the San Francisco 49ers, and toss in, arguably, the most popular celebrity on the planet and what do you end up with?

The most-watched Super Bowl in television history.

The early TV numbers for Kansas City’s thrilling overtime victory came out Monday night and they were a whopper — maybe even slightly more than even the most optimistic expectations. 

CBS Sports’ coverage of Super Bowl LVIII delivered the most-watched telecast in history with 123.4 million average viewers across all platforms, including the CBS Television Network, Paramount+, Nickelodeon, Univision, and CBS Sports, Univision and NFL digital properties, including NFL+.

That easily bested the previous record when 115.1 million watched last year’s game when the Chiefs beat the Philadelphia Eagles.

Sunday’s game on CBS alone drew 120 million viewers, making it the largest audience in history for a single network.

Final Nielsen TV numbers will come out today and those wild numbers might go up even more.

Think about it: 123.4 million. According to the latest census, the U.S. has a population of 336 million. 

The jump was expected, especially with interest in singer Taylor Swift, who was there cheering on her boyfriend, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.

There’s more. CBS Sports said 202.4 million watched all or part of Super Bowl LVIII across networks, the highest unduplicated total audience in history and up +10% vs. last year’s Super Bowl (184 million). That includes the most-streamed Super Bowl in history led by a record-setting audience on Paramount+.

What about all those people in the past who said they would never watch football again because the game was too “woke?” What about those who swore off the NFL because of players’ political and social stances? What about those who said they were done with the NFL because they were sick of seeing Swift “ruin” the broadcast?

Yeah, those people were either lying, changed their minds or were replaced by two other people who love football.

As The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch slyly tweeted, “Look what you made me watch, conspiracy theorists.”

This is clear: NFL football is the most popular thing on TV. Not just sport. But the most popular program.

Super Bowl leftovers

• Washington Post staff with “Best and worst from Super Bowl 2024: The highlights, plays and kisses.”
• From Travis Kelce to Taylor Swift, Andy Reid to Kyle Shanahan, Patrick Mahomes to Brock Purdy — The Ringer’s Danny Heifetz with “The Winners and Losers of Super Bowl LVIII.”
• I was going to link to Andrew Marchand’s sports media column in The Athletic, but I completely disagreed with his assessment of CBS analyst Tony Romo. I thought Romo’s performance was outstanding. It just seems like a fashionable thing to do — pile on Romo, that is. But if you didn’t like Romo and play-by-play guy Jim Nantz then seek out Marchand’s column. (Sorry, I’m a big fan of Marchand’s work, but I’m gonna make you work to find it instead of simply providing a link that I can’t co-sign.)
• I will, however, link to The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch: “How will Tom Brady do at Fox? What’s next for Greg Olsen? Five NFL media questions for 2024.”
• The Ringer’s Bryan Curtis with “25 Super Bowl Media Musings From Las Vegas.”
• NPR’s David Folkenflik with this tweet on Monday: “I am told the front pages of the KC Star and the Wichita Eagle’s print editions today did not have the Super Bowl final. (The Star is published in Iowa.) I am certain they will have commemorative issues tomorrow. But man, that hurts.”
• New York Times TV critic Mike Hale ranks the Super Bowl commercials.
• And here is NPR TV critic Eric Deggans with “Super Bowl ads played it safe, but there were still some winners.”
• FS1’s Nick Wright is an unapologetic Chiefs fan. So, of course, he’s strutting all over TV and social media following the Chiefs win on Sunday. But this column by The Big Lead’s Kyle Koster made me smile: “Nick Wright Cannot Keep Getting Away With This.”
• CBS pregame analyst and former NFL star J.J. Watt changed his hair before Sunday’s broadcast. Then he put out this hilarious tweet: “You ever switch up your hair and wonder if anyone will notice? They notice.”
• And, finally, Front Office Sports’ Margaret Fleming with “Reba McEntire Repeated ‘the Brave’ in the National Anthem, Sending Prop Bettors Spiraling.”

RFK’s apology

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during a campaign event last November. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard)

One of the more, uh, what-is-this? commercials during the Super Bowl was a political ad for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is running for president. The ad was repurposed from a 1960 presidential ad for his uncle, John F. Kennedy. It had old-timey music with the word “Kennedy” being repeated and then the lyrics, “Do you want a man for president who sees it through and through? A man who’s old enough to know and young enough to do.”

That seemed a not-so-subtle hint that RFK, who just turned 70, is a better candidate than 81-year-old Joe Biden and 77-year-old Donald Trump.

The ad even had a grainy-type feel that made it look like it was from 1960.

Some in the Kennedy family were angry about the ad. Bobby Shriver — son of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who was the sister of President Kennedy and the late Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy — lashed out on X, saying in part, “My cousin’s Super Bowl ad used our uncle’s faces- and my Mother’s. She would be appalled by his deadly health care views. Respect for science, vaccines, & health care equity were in her DNA.”

Robert Kennedy Jr. then responded on X Sunday night, apologizing for the ad and distancing himself from it. He tweeted, “Bobby. I’m so sorry if that advertisement caused you pain. The ad was created and aired by the American Values Super Pac without any involvement or approvals from my campaign. Federal rules prohibit Superpacs from consulting with me or my staff. I send you and your family my sincerest apologies. God bless you.”

A few minutes later, he posted virtually the same tweet, except this one was to his entire family: “I’m so sorry if the Super Bowl advertisement caused anyone in my family pain. The ad was created and aired by the American Values Super PAC without any involvement or approval from my campaign. FEC rules prohibit Super PACs from consulting with me or my staff. I love you all. God bless you.”

Monday, Monday

Jon Stewart returned to Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” on Monday night. It was his first time behind the desk since hosting the show from 1999 to 2015. (I’ll have more on his return in the newsletter on Wednesday.)

What’s interesting is Stewart is returning just for Monday nights through the election. As Variety’s Brian Steinberg points out, Monday is the same night that Rachel Maddow and Jen Psaki host shows on MSNBC.

Maddow used to host a nightly show Monday through Friday until cutting back to just Monday (and special news events) back in May 2022. Psaki’s “Inside with Jen Psaki” appears on Sundays at noon and on Monday nights.

So what’s the deal with the Monday-only shows? Steinberg quotes media experts as saying Monday is the second-most-watched day of the week on linear TV, behind Sundays.

As far as Stewart, Steinberg writes, “Executives at Comedy Central see Mondays as the biggest viewing day of the week for younger audiences — especially men between 18 and 49. They also see Stewart using the day to recap events from the weekend and previous week and for setting an agenda for the week to come.”

The recap-agenda theory also can be applied to Maddow and Psaki.

For MSNBC, the stars on Monday night are kinda good news/bad news. The good news is that Maddow and Psaki get better ratings than the rest of the week. The bad news is that the rest of the week doesn’t get as good of ratings as Monday nights.

It wouldn’t be surprising if the same happens with Stewart and Comedy Central on Monday nights.

Stewart’s impact

Stewart appeared on Monday’s “CBS Mornings” and said he was skeptical that he could influence world events, especially the 2024 election, just by hosting a show.

He told CBS, “I don’t know about hoping to have an influence, but I’m hoping to have a catharsis and a way to comment on things and a way to express them that hopefully people will enjoy. But as far as influence, and you guys know from doing this, just about everything I had wanted to happen over the 16 years that I was at ‘The Daily Show’ did not happen, if you were hoping for influence. And I think I’ve learned that post-‘Daily Show’ … I don’t really view it as ‘I really want to have an influence on this issue, this election,’ things like that.”

Legendary NPR host dies

NPR’s Bob Edwards, right, talking with baseball announcer Red Barber In 1992. (AP Photo, File)

Bob Edwards, the former longtime host of NPR’s “Morning Edition,” has died. He was 76. His wife, NPR reporter Windsor Johnston, announced the news on Facebook.

Johnston wrote, “He was a stickler for even the tiniest of details and lived by the philosophy that ‘less is more.’ He helped pave the way for the younger generation of journalists who continue to make NPR what it is today. “

In a statement, NPR CEO John Lansing said, “Bob Edwards understood the intimate and distinctly personal connection with audiences that distinguishes audio journalism from other mediums, and for decades he was a trusted voice in the lives of millions of public radio listeners. Staff at NPR and all across the Network, along with those millions of listeners, will remember Bob Edwards with gratitude.”

Edwards worked at NPR for 30 years, starting in 1974. He co-hosted the afternoon drive “All Things Considered,” before becoming the inaugural host of  “Morning Edition” in 1979 — a position he held until retiring in 2004.

NPR special correspondent Susan Stamberg, the former co-host of “All Things Considered,” told NPR’s Lynn Neary, “He was Bob Edwards of ‘Morning Edition’ for 24 1/2 years, and his was the voice we woke up to.”

The Washington Post’s Brian Murphy has more in this excellent remembrance.

Media tidbits

• Missed this one from last week: The Washington Post’s Erik Wemple with “The Messenger and bad media owners.”
• Meanwhile, for Air Mail, Brian Stelter with “Killing the Messenger.”
• Also catching up on this news from late last week. Noah Shachtman, the top editor of Rolling Stone, will step down at the end of the month after nearly two years running the news site. While Shachtman gave no explanation, The New York Times’ Benjamin Mullin wrote, “His resignation was prompted by editorial differences with Gus Wenner, Rolling Stone’s chief executive, according to a person who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive personnel matters.” Sean Woods, Rolling Stone’s deputy editor, and Lisa Tozzi, its digital director, will take over while there is a search for a new editor.
• Politico’s Jack Shafer with “The Washington Post Has a New Publisher. Here’s Some Unsolicited Advice.”
• The Hollywood Reporter’s Caitlin Huston with “SiriusXM Cuts 160 Jobs Amid Push to Become More ‘Efficient, Agile.’” That’s about 3% of SiriusXM’s staff. Axios’ Sara Fischer and Kerry Flynn have more in “Audio industry shrinks despite streaming gains.”
• The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand reports ESPN/ABC will move JJ Redick up to its top announcing team with Mike Breen and Doris Burke for the NBA Finals. Breen worked for years with Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson, but ESPN laid off both Van Gundy and Jackson as a part of sizable layoffs last summer. Their new top announcing team was Breen, Burke and former NBA coach Doc Rivers. But Rivers recently returned to coaching.
• So it sounds as if podcasters Bill Simmons and Pat McAfee are in a bit of a feud? (Actually, it’s more like McAfee being a little too soft over Simmons doing playful impressions of him.) Anyway, The New York Post’s Ryan Glasspiegel has more.
• You can learn more about the Julian Assange Wikileaks case and the threat it may pose to press freedom during an online event Thursday from the Freedom of the Press Foundation. Register here for the event at 12:30 p.m. Eastern, featuring U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern and other experts discussing why journalists should be concerned about the U.S. prosecution of Assange.
• Lisa Rubin has joined MSNBC as a legal correspondent, covering legal matters for MSNBC’s shows, blogs and digital platforms. Rubin has practiced law in New York and has previously worked as an off-air legal analyst for “The Rachel Maddow Show” and “Alex Wagner Tonight,” before eventually providing analysis on breaking legal news, such as the Dobbs decision and E. Jean Carroll-Donald Trump trials.

Hot type

• The Los Angeles Times’ Matt Hamilton with “Tom Girardi left dozens of voicemails for The Times and a reporter investigating him. Was it a ploy?”
• For The New York Times, ​​David Segal with “What Happens When TikTok Is Your Marketing Department.”

More resources for journalists

• The 2024 Poynter Journalism Prizes are now open for entries. To enter, go to the contest website. The deadline for entries is Feb. 16.
• Delve more deeply into your editing skills with Poynter ACES Intermediate Certificate in Editing. Start anytime.
• Essential Skills for Rising Newsroom Leaders (Seminar) (May) — Apply by March 26.
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