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 that 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.
In many cases, the local markets of the participating teams may preempt the lead-out program and/or move it to an alternate channel to continue postgame coverage after the network signs off its coverage.
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 at the time. At Super Bowl LVIII, the series premiere of Tracker was pushed to 11:14 p.m. ET due to the game's overtime finish, but CBS did achieve 18.4 million viewers.
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 Tracker, which followed CBS's broadcast of Super Bowl LVIII in 2024. 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 Australian and all-star 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,.
Rarely, and especially before the game moved to a 6:00 p.m. kickoff, the lead-out has been another sporting event, with the most recent case being Super Bowl LVI in 2022—which was followed by coverage of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China. It is expected to happen again in 2026. Previously, the last Super Bowl to have a sporting event as a lead-out was Super Bowl X in 1976—which was followed by final round coverage of the Phoenix Open golf tournament.
It has also been rare for a Super Bowl leadout program to be a made-for-TV movie, as was the case of Raid on Entebbe following Super Bowl XI and Brotherhood of the Rose following Super Bowl XXIII.
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 late local programming, 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, followed by a special episode of The Late Late Show with James Corden after late local programming. Fallon then hosted another episode after Super Bowl LII in Minneapolis. Colbert followed suit in subsequent years that CBS aired the game.
The most common lead-out program is the news magazine 60 Minutes, which has aired after four Super Bowls. Lassie was the lead-out show three times and three series have appeared in the time slot twice—The Wonderful World of Disney '', The Simpsons and Survivor''. Likewise, the Winter Olympics have twice served as the lead-out program.
Occasionally, especially if they are not the Super Bowl broadcaster, a network may also choose to air a special lead-out after other NFL playoff games with a similar prime time window, such as the divisional games or conference championships.
List of lead-out programs
The following is a list of shows that have aired after the Super Bowl:| Super Bowl | Date | Network | Program | Episode | Start time | U.S. viewers | Share | Refs |
| January 15, 1967 | CBS | Lassie | "Lassie's Litter Bit" | 33.7% | ||||
| January 15, 1967 | NBC | Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color | "Willie and the Yank: The Mosby Raiders" | 25.3% | ||||
| January 14, 1968 | CBS | Local programming, then Lassie | "The Foundling" | 41.2% | ||||
| January 12, 1969 | NBC | G.E. College Bowl | 21.2% | |||||
| January 11, 1970 | CBS | Lassie | "The Road Back" | 34% | ||||
| January 17, 1971 | NBC | Bing Crosby National Pro-Am golf tournament | 36% | |||||
| January 16, 1972 | CBS | 60 Minutes | 36% | |||||
| January 14, 1973 | NBC | The Wonderful World of Disney | "The Mystery in Dracula's Castle" | 44% | ||||
| January 13, 1974 | CBS | Local programming, then The New Perry Mason | "The Case of the Tortured Titan" | 15.058 | 20% | |||
| January 12, 1975 | NBC | NBC Nightly News | 15.924 | 28% | ||||
| January 18, 1976 | CBS | Phoenix Open golf tournament | 22.363 | 31% | ||||
| January 9, 1977 | NBC | The Big Event | Kit Carson | 42.816 | 37% | |||
| January 15, 1978 | CBS | All in the Family | "Super Bowl Sunday" | 35.472 | 47% | |||
| January 21, 1979 | NBC | Brothers and Sisters | "Pilot" | 31.722 | 32% | |||
| January 20, 1980 | CBS | 60 Minutes | 40.746 | 50% | ||||
| January 25, 1981 | NBC | CHiPs | "11-99: Officer Needs Help" | 26% | ||||
| January 24, 1982 | CBS | 60 Minutes | 36% | |||||
| January 30, 1983 | NBC | The A-Team | "Children of Jamestown" | 21.910 | 39% | |||
| January 22, 1984 | CBS | Airwolf | "Shadow of the Hawke" | 27.874 | 36% | |||
| January 20, 1985 | ABC | MacGruder and Loud | "Pilot" | 38% | ||||
| January 26, 1986 | NBC | The Last Precinct | "The Last Precinct" | 39.729 | 25% | |||
| January 25, 1987 | CBS | Hard Copy | Pilot | 33% | ||||
| January 31, 1988 | ABC | The Wonder Years | Pilot | 28.976 | 31% | |||
| January 22, 1989 | NBC | Brotherhood of the Rose | 32.0 | 36% | ||||
| January 28, 1990 | CBS | Grand Slam | "Pilot" | 30.765 | 30% | |||
| January 27, 1991 | ABC | Davis Rules | "A Man for All Reasons" | 10:05 PM – 11:05 PM | 26.695 | 25% | ||
| January 26, 1992 | CBS | 60 Minutes | 60 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. | 10:34 PM | 24.821 | 30% | ||
| January 26, 1992 | CBS | 48 Hours | 10:47 PM – 11:47 PM | 24.821 | 30% | |||
| January 31, 1993 | NBC | Homicide: Life on the Street | "Gone for Goode" | 10:15 PM – 11:15 PM | 28.121 | 31% | ||
| January 30, 1994 | NBC | The John Larroquette Show | "Eggs" | 10:00 PM – 10:30 PM | 17.708 | 22% | ||
| January 30, 1994 | NBC | The Good Life | Pilot | 10:30 PM – 11:00 PM | 23.012 | 22% | ||
| January 29, 1995 | ABC | Extreme | Pilot | 10:30 PM – 11:30 PM | 22.594 | 25% | ||
| January 28, 1996 | NBC | Friends | "The One After the Superbowl" | 10:30 PM – 11:30 PM | 52.925 | 46% | ||
| January 26, 1997 | Fox | The X-Files | "Leonard Betts" | 9:30 PM – 10:30 PM | 29.098 | 29% | ||
| January 25, 1998 | NBC | 3rd Rock from the Sun | "36! 24! 36! Dick" | 10:30 PM – 11:30 PM | 33.662 | 34% | ||
| January 31, 1999 | Fox | Family Guy | "Death Has a Shadow" | 10:30 PM – 11:00 PM | 22.005 | 21% | ||
| January 31, 1999 | Fox | The Simpsons | "Sunday, Cruddy Sunday" | 11:00 PM – 11:30 PM | 22.005 | 21% | ||
| January 30, 2000 | ABC | The Practice | "New Evidence" | 10:18 PM – 11:18 PM | 23.847 | 27% | ||
| January 28, 2001 | CBS | Survivor: The Australian Outback | "Stranded" | 10:19 PM – 11:19 PM | 45.369 | 39% | ||
| February 3, 2002 | Fox | Malcolm in the Middle | "Company Picnic" | 10:38 PM – 11:38 PM | 21.445 | 21% | ||
| January 26, 2003 | ABC | Alias | "Phase One" | 11:15 PM – 12:15 AM | 17.362 | 20% | ||
| February 1, 2004 | CBS | Survivor: All-Stars | "They're Back!" | 10:58 PM – 11:58 PM | 33.535 | 32% | ||
| February 6, 2005 | Fox | The Simpsons | "Homer and Ned's Hail Mary Pass" | 10:45 PM – 11:18 PM | 23.074 | 22% | ||
| February 6, 2005 | Fox | American Dad! | Pilot | 11:18 PM – 11:48 PM | 23.074 | 22% | ||
| February 5, 2006 | ABC | Grey's Anatomy | "It's the End of the World" | 10:05 PM – 11:05 PM | 37.800 | 27% | ||
| February 4, 2007 | CBS | Criminal Minds | "The Big Game" | 10:20 PM – 11:20 PM | 26.314 | 26% | ||
| February 3, 2008 | Fox | House | "Frozen" | 10:30 PM – 11:30 PM | 29.045 | 27% | ||
| February 1, 2009 | NBC | The Office | "Stress Relief" | 10:45 PM – 11:45 PM | 22.905 | 21% | ||
| February 7, 2010 | CBS | Undercover Boss | "Waste Management" | 10:15 PM – 11:15 PM | 38.654 | 32% | ||
| February 6, 2011 | Fox | Glee | "The Sue Sylvester Shuffle" | 10:35 PM – 11:45 PM | 26.796 | 25% | ||
| February 5, 2012 | NBC | The Voice | "The Blind Auditions, Part 1" | 10:15 PM – 11:15 PM | 37.611 | 31% | ||
| February 3, 2013 | CBS | Elementary | "The Deductionist" | 11:15 PM – 12:15 AM | 20.800 | 23% | ||
| February 2, 2014 | Fox | New Girl | "Prince" | 10:23 PM – 10:54 PM | 26.30 | 20% | ||
| February 2, 2014 | Fox | Brooklyn Nine-Nine | "Operation: Broken Feather" | 10:54 PM – 11:25 PM | 15.07 | 13% | ||
| February 1, 2015 | NBC | The Blacklist | "Luther Braxton" | 10:38 PM – 11:38 PM | 25.72 | 24% | ||
| February 7, 2016 | CBS | The Late Show with Stephen Colbert | Guests: Tina Fey, Margot Robbie, Will Ferrell, Megyn Kelly, Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele | 10:54 PM – 11:54 PM | 20.55 | 25% | ||
| February 5, 2017 | Fox | 24: Legacy | "12:00 PM – 1:00 PM" | 11:00 PM – 12:00 AM | 17.58 | 22% | ||
| February 4, 2018 | NBC | This Is Us | "Super Bowl Sunday" | 10:45 PM – 11:45 PM | 26.98 | |||
| February 3, 2019 | CBS | The World's Best | Auditions 1 | 10:36 PM – 11:36 PM | 22.21 | |||
| February 2, 2020 | Fox | The Masked Singer | "The Season Kick off Mask Off: Group A" | 10:40 PM – 11:40 PM | 27.33 | |||
| February 7, 2021 | CBS | The Equalizer | "The Equalizer" | 10:39 PM – 11:39 PM | 20.40 | |||
| February 13, 2022 | NBC | 2022 Winter Olympics | "2022 Winter Olympics Primetime Show" | 10:24 PM – 11:39 PM | 24.00 | |||
| February 12, 2023 | Fox | Next Level Chef | "A Next Level Welcome" | 10:37 PM – 11:47 PM | 15.66 | |||
| February 11, 2024 | CBS | Tracker | "Klamath Falls" | 11:14 PM – 12:14 AM | 18.44 | |||
| February 11, 2024 | Nickelodeon | Rock Paper Scissors | "The Fart Joke Debate" and "The First Lou Episode" | 10:54 PM – 11:24 PM | TBD | |||
| February 9, 2025 | Fox | The Floor | Season 3 premiere | 10:41 PM – 11:51 PM | 13.94 | |||
| February 9, 2025 | Tubi | The Z-Suite | Series premiere | 10:30 PM | TBD | |||
| February 8, 2026 | NBC | 2026 Winter Olympics | "2026 Winter Olympics Primetime Show" | |||||
| February 14, 2027 | ABC | |||||||
| February 14, 2027 | ESPN | |||||||
| LXII | February 13, 2028 | CBS |
Lead-outs in Canada
The Canadian broadcast rightsholder to the Super Bowl which airs the game in simulcast with the U.S. broadcaster – CTV since 2008 – can air the same lead-out program as long as it owns domestic rights to the program airing as the lead-out of the U.S. broadcaster . If not, then it will have to air its own specific lead-out program for the Canadian audience as a substitute.For example, after Super Bowl XLV, CTV aired the season finale of its original drama Flashpoint following the conclusion of the telecast, as the rights to Glee were held by Global. In turn, Global counterprogrammed the game with a "Sue-Per Bowl Sunday" theme night to tie into the episode, which included episodes of Glee, and the Glee-themed episodes of The Simpsons and The Office.
CTV was supposed 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.
Programs marked in bold were the same as the U.S. Super Bowl lead-out, either broadcast in a simulcast with the U.S. network, or via a clean feed.
| Super Bowl | Date | Network | Program | Episode | Notes |
| XIX | January 20, 1985 | Global | 60 Minutes | New episode | - |
| XX | January 26, 1986 | CTV | Murder She Wrote | Encore episode | - |
| XXI | January 25, 1987 | CTV | MacGyver | Encore episode | - |
| XXII | January 31, 1988 | Global | The Wonder Years | Series pilot | - |
| XXIII | January 22, 1989 | CTV | Brotherhood of the Rose Part One | TV movie | - |
| XXIV | January 28, 1990 | CTV | Bordertown | New episode | - |
| XXV | January 27, 1991 | Global | 60 Minutes | New episode | - |
| XXVI | January 26, 1992 | CTV | Neon Rider | New episode | - |
| XXVII | January 31, 1993 | CTV | Homicide: Life on the Street | "Gone for Goode" | - |
| XXVIII | January 30, 1994 | CTV | Murder She Wrote | Encore episode | - |
| XXIX | January 29, 1995 | Global | 60 Minutes | New episode | - |
| XXX | January 28, 1996 | CTV | Friends | "The One After the Superbowl" | - |
| XXXI | January 26, 1997 | CTV | The X-Files | "Leonard Betts" | - |
| XXXII | January 25, 1998 | CTV | Clueless | "Homecoming Queen" | - |
| XXXII | January 31, 1999 | Global | Family Guy | "Death Has a Shadow" | - |
| XXXIV | January 30, 2000 | Global | Touched by an Angel | Encore episode | - |
| XXXV | January 28, 2001 | Global | Futurama | Encore episode | - |
| XXXVI | February 3, 2002 | Global | Malcolm in the Middle | "Company Picnic" | - |
| XXXVII | January 26, 2003 | Global | The Simpsons | Encore episode | - |
| XXXVIII | February 1, 2004 | Global | Everybody Loves Raymond | Encore episode | - |
| XXXIX | February 6, 2005 | Global | American Dad! | Series premiere | - |
| XL | February 5, 2006 | Global | Family Guy | Encore episode | |
| February 4, 2007 | Global | Deal or No Deal Canada | Series premiere | ||
| February 3, 2008 | CTV | Nip/Tuck | "Carly Summers" | ||
| February 1, 2009 | CTV | The Mentalist | "Red Brick and Ivy" | ||
| February 7, 2010 | CTV | Undercover Boss | "Waste Management" | ||
| February 6, 2011 | CTV | Flashpoint | "Fault Lines (Part 1)" | ||
| February 5, 2012 | CTV | The Voice | "The Blind Auditions, Part 1" | ||
| February 3, 2013 | CTV | Motive | "Creeping Tom" | ||
| February 2, 2014 | CTV | MasterChef Canada | "First Kick at the Box" | ||
| February 1, 2015 | CTV | MasterChef Canada | "Fit to Be Tied" | ||
| February 7, 2016 | CTV | DC's Legends of Tomorrow | "White Knights" | ||
| February 5, 2017 | CTV/CTV 2 TSN | Letterkenny | "Ain't No Reason to Get Excited" | ||
| February 4, 2018 | CTV/CTV 2 TSN | This Is Us | "Super Bowl Sunday" | ||
| February 3, 2019 | CTV/CTV 2 TSN | SC with Jay and Dan | Post-game edition | ||
| February 2, 2020 | CTV TSN | The Masked Singer | Season 3 premiere | ||
| February 7, 2021 | CTV TSN | Holmes Family Effect | "A Trade of a Lifetime" | ||
| LVI | February 13, 2022 | CTV TSN | Children Ruin Everything | "Roadtrips" | |
| LVII | February 12, 2023 | CTV TSN | Next Level Chef | Season 2 premiere | |
| February 11, 2024 | CTV TSN | Tracker | "Klamath Falls" | ||
| LIX | February 9, 2025 | CTV TSN | Rescue: HI-Surf | "Depth Charge" | |
| LX | February 8, 2026 | CTV TSN | The Borderline'' | "Blue Beetle" |