List of Super Bowl lead-out programs


The Super Bowl is the annual championship game of the National Football League, and is typically the highest-rated single television broadcast in the United States of any given year. As such, the television network who broadcasts the game will typically use it as a tent-pole for another program—airing following the conclusion of the game telecast—to take advantage of and retain the expanded audience.
The lead-out program is typically a highly-anticipated special episode or a season premiere of an existing primetime program, or in some cases, the premiere of a new series.

Overview

The Super Bowl provides an extremely strong lead-in to the programming on the channel following the game, the effects of which can last for several hours. For instance, in discussing the ratings of a local TV station, Buffalo, New York television critic Alan Pergament noted on the coattails from Super Bowl XLVII, which aired on CBS: "A paid program that ran on Channel 4 at 2:30 in the morning had a 1.3 rating. That's higher than some CW prime time shows get on WNLO-TV, Channel 4's sister station."
The Super Bowl lead-out is typically aired across most U.S. markets simultaneously, and is usually one hour in length, although before the game adopted its standard kickoff time of just after 6:00 p.m. ET in the early 1990s, it was not uncommon for longer programs to be broadcast. When the game moved into a later time slot in 1983, the game and its associated post-game programming would be scheduled until 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time / 7:00 p.m. Pacific Time, allowing for only one hour of network programming until the late local news. Outside of the few blowout games through the game's history, these programs never have started anywhere near the mentioned time, due to the extended length of the pre-game, halftime, and post-game festivities. Viewership for ABC's airing of Alias in 2003 after Super Bowl XXXVII was dampened by an unusually-long 40-minute post-game show, which pushed the start time past 11:00 p.m. ET. Although a series high, the episode was one of the lowest-rated Super Bowl lead-outs.
It is common for affiliates in the home markets of the competing teams to delay the lead-out show further, until after additional local post-game coverage.
In 1979, 1999, 2010, and 2017, and largely from the mid-1980s through the mid-1990s, this slot was used to showcase a new series or movie, such as The A-Team or The Wonder Years, or broadcast a special episode of an "up-and-coming" series. However, many of the series were ultimately unsuccessful, with some being canceled within a matter of weeks. Since then, virtually all of the programs in the post-game timeslot have been special episodes of series that had already aired for at least one season.
The most recent Super Bowl lead-out program to have also been a series premiere is The World's Best, which followed CBS's broadcast of Super Bowl LIII in 2019. A previous example, Undercover Boss attracted the largest peak half-hour viewership of any Super Bowl lead-out program to date, with 75.474 million viewers. Four other series have had their season premieres following the Super Bowl: two editions of Survivor, the and series, which aired on CBS, The Voice, which launched its second season following Super Bowl XLVI on NBC, and The Masked Singer, which launched its third season after Super Bowl LIV on Fox.
Although Fox almost never programs time slots after 10:00 p.m. except on Saturdays, Fox has aired lead-out programming after the Super Bowl ever since it began airing the game in 1997, which normally preempts local newscasts. The Fox affiliates in the market of the winning team sometimes air a post-Super Bowl newscast immediately following the game and delay the lead-out program until after the newscast's conclusion; two such examples included New York flagship O&O WNYW and Boston affiliate WFXT.
Currently, a regular-length episode of a drama series will usually air, although in some cases a one-hour episode of a sitcom, or two episodes of different sitcoms paired together, may air instead. Quite often the selected series is one of the "prestige" shows for the network showing the game that year, or a moderate hit, which the network wants to give a higher profile. The Simpsons has aired in the slot twice, with both airings being paired with the premieres of animated sitcoms. An occasional practice used to maximize the effect of the lead-out is to make the Super Bowl episode a cliffhanger, with a story that concludes later in the week in the program's regularly scheduled timeslot,.
Because the Super Bowl is on a Sunday, before the mid-2000s, networks never carried a new episode of their weeknight late night talk shows after the game, lead-out program and local news. However this has changed since then, usually after the late local news, in order to give those programs an additional promotional push to introduce the current generation of hosts. This was first done with the live premiere episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live after Super Bowl XXXVII in 2003, followed by The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson after Super Bowl XLI in 2007. Late Night with Jimmy Fallon was next to follow in 2012 after Super Bowl XLVI, finishing a week of shows recorded from Indianapolis. Ferguson aired a special episode from New Orleans after Super Bowl XLVII in 2013. In 2015, Jimmy Fallon had another new episode after Super Bowl XLIX from Phoenix, this time as the host of The Tonight Show. In 2016 for Super Bowl 50, CBS aired a special live episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert as its lead-out, rather than a primetime series episode. The Late Late Show with James Corden also aired a special edition after local newscasts. Fallon then hosted another episode after Super Bowl LII in Minneapolis. Colbert followed suit the next year by airing another post-Super Bowl show in 2019, after Super Bowl LIII, which followed local news, as CBS premiered The World’s Best after the game.
The most common lead-out program is the news magazine 60 Minutes, which has aired after four Super Bowls. Two other series have followed the big game three times—Lassie and The Wonderful World of Disney. Two more series have appeared in the time slot twice—The Simpsons and Survivor

List of lead-out programs

The following is a list of shows that have aired after the Super Bowl in the United States:
Super BowlDateNetworkProgramEpisodeStart time
ET		U.S. viewers
ShareRefs
January 15, 1967CBSLassie"Lassie's Litter Bit"33.7%
January 15, 1967NBCWalt Disney's Wonderful World of Color"Willie and the Yank: The Mosby Raiders"
25.3%
January 14, 1968CBSLocal programming, then
Lassie		"The Foundling"41.2%
January 12, 1969NBCG.E. College Bowl21.2%
January 11, 1970CBSLassie"The Road Back"34%
January 17, 1971NBCBing Crosby National Pro-Am golf tournament36%
January 16, 1972CBS60 Minutes36%
January 14, 1973NBCThe Wonderful World of Disney"The Mystery in Dracula's Castle"44%
January 13, 1974CBSLocal programming, then
The New Perry Mason		"The Case of the Tortured Titan"15.05820%
January 12, 1975NBCNBC Nightly News15.92428%
January 18, 1976CBSPhoenix Open golf tournament22.36331%
January 9, 1977NBCThe Big EventRaid on Entebbe42.81637%
January 15, 1978CBSAll in the Family"Archie and the Super Bowl"35.47247%
January 21, 1979NBCBrothers and Sisters"Pilot"31.72232%
January 20, 1980CBS60 Minutes40.74650%
January 25, 1981NBCCHiPs"11-99: Officer Needs Help"
26%
January 24, 1982CBS60 Minutes36%
January 30, 1983NBCThe A-Team"Children of Jamestown"
21.91039%
January 22, 1984CBSAirwolf"Shadow of the Hawke"
27.87436%
January 20, 1985ABCMacGruder and Loud"Pilot"38%
January 26, 1986NBCThe Last Precinct"The Last Precinct"
39.72925%
January 25, 1987CBSHard Copy"Pilot"33%
January 31, 1988ABCThe Wonder Years"Pilot"28.97631%
January 22, 1989NBCBrotherhood of the Rose36%
January 28, 1990CBSGrand Slam"Pilot"30.76530%
January 27, 1991ABCDavis Rules"A Man for All Reasons"
26.69525%
January 26, 1992CBS60 Minutes60 Minutes was an abbreviated 13-minute edition and was apparently a last-minute addition to the schedule, consisting of an interview of Bill and Hillary Clinton addressing the Gennifer Flowers affair.
24.82130%
January 26, 1992CBS48 HoursThe length of the edition of 48 Hours which followed 60 Minutes is not clear.24.82130%
January 31, 1993NBC'"Gone for Goode"
28.12131%
January 30, 1994NBCThe Good Life"Pilot"23.01222%
January 30, 1994NBCThe John Larroquette Show"Eggs"17.70822%
January 29, 1995ABCExtreme"Pilot"22.59425%
January 28, 1996NBCFriends"The One After the Superbowl" 52.92546%
January 26, 1997FoxThe X-Files"Leonard Betts"29.09829%
January 25, 1998NBC3rd Rock from the Sun"36! 24! 36! Dick" 33.66234%
January 31, 1999FoxFamily Guy"Death Has a Shadow"
22.00521%
January 31, 1999FoxThe Simpsons"Sunday, Cruddy Sunday"22.00521%
January 30, 2000ABCThe Practice"New Evidence"
10:18 PM23.84727%
January 28, 2001CBS'"Stranded" 10:19 PM45.36939%
February 3, 2002FoxMalcolm in the Middle"Company Picnic" 10:38 PM21.44521%
January 26, 2003ABCAlias"Phase One"11:15 PM17.36220%
February 1, 2004CBS'"They're Back!" 10:58 PM33.53532%
February 6, 2005FoxThe Simpsons"Homer and Ned's Hail Mary Pass"10:45 PM23.07422%
February 6, 2005FoxAmerican Dad!"Pilot"11:18 PM23.07422%
February 5, 2006ABCGrey's Anatomy"It's the End of the World"10:05 PM37.80027%
February 4, 2007CBSCriminal Minds"The Big Game"10:20 PM26.31426%
February 3, 2008FoxHouse"Frozen"10:30 PM29.04527%
February 1, 2009NBCThe Office"Stress Relief"
10:45 PM22.90521%
February 7, 2010CBSUndercover Boss"Waste Management"
10:15 PM38.65432%
February 6, 2011FoxGlee"The Sue Sylvester Shuffle"10:35 PM26.79625%
February 5, 2012NBCThe Voice"The Blind Auditions, Part 1"
10:15 PM37.61131%
February 3, 2013CBSElementary"The Deductionist"11:15 PM20.80023%
February 2, 2014FoxNew Girl"Prince"10:20 PM26.3020%
February 2, 2014FoxBrooklyn Nine-Nine""10:55 PM15.0713%
February 1, 2015NBCThe Blacklist"Luther Braxton"
10:38 PM25.7224%
February 7, 2016CBSThe Late Show with Stephen ColbertGuests: Tina Fey, Margot Robbie, Will Ferrell, Megyn Kelly, Keegan-Michael Key & Jordan Peele10:54 PM20.5525%
February 5, 2017Fox'"12:00 PM – 1:00 PM"
11:00 PM17.5822%
February 4, 2018NBCThis Is Us"Super Bowl Sunday"10:45 PM26.98
February 3, 2019CBSThe World's BestAuditions 1
10:36 PM22.21
February 2, 2020FoxThe Masked Singer"The Season Kick off Mask Off: Group A"
10:40 PM
February 7, 2021CBS
February 6, 2022NBC
February 5, 2023Fox
February 4, 2024TBD

Lead-outs in Canada

, which currently airs the Super Bowl in Canada in simulcast with the U.S. broadcaster, has aired its own specific lead-out programs for Canadian audiences, as the network does not necessarily own domestic rights to the program airing as the lead-out of the U.S. broadcaster. For example, after Super Bowl XLV, CTV aired the season finale of its original drama Flashpoint, as Glee rights were held by Global. Global counter-programmed the game with a "Sue-Per Bowl Sunday" marathon of Glee encores, and Glee-themed episodes of The Simpsons and The Office to lead into its simulcast of the new episode, "The Sue Sylvester Shuffle". Citytv similarly acquired rights to the Super Bowl LIII lead-out The World's Best. Super Bowls XLVI, LII, and LIV provided exceptions, as CTV is the Canadian rightsholder of The Voice, This Is Us, and The Masked Singer.
CTV was to air a "sneak peek" of the second season of its original sitcom Spun Out after Super Bowl XLIX, but the premiere was pulled after cast member J. P. Manoux was charged with voyeurism. The season 2 premiere of MasterChef Canada was pushed ahead to air in its place.
Super BowlDateProgramEpisodeNotes
February 6, 2011Flashpoint"Fault Lines "
February 5, 2012The Voice"The Blind Auditions, Part 1"
February 3, 2013Motive"Creeping Tom" .
February 1, 2015MasterChef Canada""Fit to Be Tied"
February 7, 2016DC's Legends of Tomorrow"White Knights"
February 5, 2017Letterkenny"Ain't No Reason to Get Excited"
February 4, 2018This Is Us"Super Bowl Sunday"
February 3, 2019SC with Jay and DanPost-game edition with Jay Onrait and Dan O'Toole.
February 2, 2020The Masked SingerSeason 3 premiere