Not much pops in 3-D 'Chuck;' Super Bowl stats

If there's much to the 3-D effects on NBC's "Chuck" (8 p.m. Monday), they were not apparent on a copy of the episode NBC sent critics for review.

Without the 3-D glasses, there wasn't much in the way of shadows around the characters on screen, as we've come to expect from 3-D productions. With the glasses on, colors were just muddled. Nothing on screen really popped in any significant way.

At one point, a knife flies toward the viewer but that was one of the few 3-D tricks. If you don't have 3-D glasses, you won't miss much. It's still an enjoyable "Chuck" outing without the gimmick.

Dominic Monaghan guest stars as a rock musician -- not that different from his "Lost" character -- who's targeted by bad guys. Chuck and team have to protect him. Back at Buy More, Big Mike (Mark Christopher Lawrence) hires an old football buddy who's recently out of jail (Jerome Bettis, NBC's "Footbal Night in America").

Bettis isn't asked to do any heavy lifting with his performance but he makes a fine impression playing a big, semi-scary guy who's game to compete in contests against other Best Buy workers for a chance to go backstage at the rock star's concert.

Monday's "Chuck" also advances the relationship between Chuck (Zachary Levi) and Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski), which was damaged after Chuck saw her kill a Fulcrum agent in the show's Christmas episode.

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Because everyone in the media seems required to talk all-Steelers all the time this week, I'll do my part by supplying these Super Bowl stats from Nielsen:

Nielsen Local Metered Market Data

-- Over the last 10 Super Bowls, the Kansas City DMA has the highest Household (HH) rating with 49.5% of TV HHs tuning into the "Big Game" during that period. 

-- Over the last 10 Super Bowls, the highest individual metered market performance was delivered in Jacksonville for Super Bowl XXXIX in 2005 (NE-PHI) with a 58.9 HH rating. The game was played in Jacksonville's Alltel Stadium.

-- In the past 10 years, the Atlanta market delivered the highest Super Bowl participant HH rating with a 58.2 in 1999 (Super Bowl XXXIII, ATL-DEN).

-- Since 1999, first time Super Bowl participants show significant local HH ratings increases from the previous year. In 2007, the Colts drove a 16% increase in Indianapolis over Super Bowl XL in 2006 (PIT-SEA). In 2001, the Ravens inspired a 42% increase in Baltimore over Super Bowl XXXIV in 2000 (TEN-STL). First-timers also see large jumps in viewing from the Conference Championship to the Super Bowl. Baltimore's 2001 HH rating increased 15% game-to-game. 

As for this Sunday's contestants, were you aware...

Local Market Profiles (Phoenix/Pittsburgh DMA Data)

-- As of January 2009, the Phoenix market is ranked 12^th among the 56 metered markets with 1,855,930 TV HHs, while Pittsburgh is 23^rd with 1,156,460 TV HHs. Super Bowl XL (SEA-PIT) in 2006 featured a similar match-up. At the time, Seattle was ranked 13^th with 1,701,950 TV HHs. Pittsburgh was ranked 22^nd with 1,169,800 TV HHs.

-- In 2006, Seattle and Pittsburgh accounted for 3.7% of the total metered market universe. Their Super Bowl XL performance delivered 5.0% of the total metered market HH impressions.

-- Arizona, playing in their first Super Bowl this weekend, has shown significant HH ratings increases in the Phoenix DMA over the course of their playoff run. Their NFC Championship game versus Philadelphia delivered a 40.8 HH - a 32% increase over their Divisional playoff game versus Carolina (30.8).

-- In 2006, Seattle, like Arizona participated in their first Super Bowl, and saw a 31% increase over the market's previous Super Bowl performance (54.4 in ‘06 vs. 41.7 in ‘05). In addition, Seattle delivered the highest HH share over the past 10 Super Bowls with 85% of the market with sets in use tuning to Super Bowl XL.

-- Pittsburgh, playing in their 7^th Super Bowl on Sunday, are no strangers to large TV audiences. In the 2008 NFL regular season, Pittsburgh registered 9 of the top 10 highest rated telecasts among the 56 metered markets. The Steelers-Patriots match-up on CBS on November 30^th was tops overall with 49.1% of Household tuning in Pittsburgh.

-- In Arizona, the Cardinals highest rated regular season game was against the New York Giants on November 23^rd. The Phoenix market garnered a 23.4 HH rating, representing a 56% increase over the 2008 regular season average HH performance of the Cardinals in Phoenix (15.0).

-- In Pittsburgh's last Super Bowl in 2006, the DMA delivered a 57.4 HH rating. This was an 8% increase over the market's performance of that year's AFC Championship (53.0). This year's AFC Championship between the Steelers and Baltimore Ravens delivered a 58.3 HH rating in the Pittsburgh DMA.

-- For the 2008 NFL regular season (all games across all networks), the 56 metered markets attracted an average HH audience of 10.4%. The Pittsburgh DMA over-indexed the metered market performance by 45% with a 15.1 HH rating - best of all metered markets. Phoenix under-indexed by 8% (9.6 HH rating).

-- From a home technology perspective, the Phoenix DMA has a HD receivable (a home that is equipped with an HD television and HD tuner and receives at least one HD network or station) penetration of 25.5% (13^th among the 56 metered markets). 28.7% of the homes in the market have DVR (ranked 24^th). In Pittsburgh, the market has a HD receivable penetration of 21.7% (29^th among metered markets). 20.4% of the homes in the Pittsburgh DMA have DVR (ranked 51^st).

How does the score of the game affect Super Bowl ratings?

Nielsen National Minute by Minute Viewing Data (2002-2008) (LIVE+SD unless otherwise noted)

-- Last year's thrilling Super Bowl owes a large part of its record-breaking ratings' success to a late game viewer surge.  At 10:02 PM, the final minute of the game, viewership peaked at a 51.3  HH rating, 72 share and over 112 million viewers. The final 30 minutes of the broadcast delivered a 47.5 HH rating. This was a 13% increase compared to all prior minutes (42.0).

-- In 2004 (NE-CAR) and 2002 (NE-STL), games that went down to the final play, surged 13% and 9% in the last half hour compared to the average rating of all minutes prior.

-- Since 2002, every Super Bowl has had its highest rating point occur in the 4^th quarter and, in all but one instance, after 10PM ET (the Bears-Colts ended at 9:57PM ET).

-- Super Bowls that went down to the wire (NE-STL in ‘02, NE-CAR in ‘04, NYG-NE in ‘08) had increases in share in the final half hour compared to all minutes prior. In comparison, games decided by the fourth quarter either remained flat or decreased.

How many viewers stay tuned for the Halftime Show?

-- From 2005-2008, the halftime show time period has averaged a 40.6 household rating.  The high mark for halftime came in 2007, when Prince's performance received a 41.7 HH rating.

How does the Super Bowl perform in High Definition (HD) households nationally?

-- In February 2008 US HD Penetration was at 15.3%. As of January 2009 that number had grown to 27.9%.

-- The Super Bowl ratings are higher in HD households: last year's game received a 56.5 rating in HD capable/receivable homes (A home that is equipped with an HD television and HD tuner and receives at least one HD network or station). These homes over-indexed the composite HH rating by 31%. 

-- Females 18+ also over- indexed in HD homes (by 43%) with a 46.9 rating compared to their 32.9 composite rating.

-- Males 18+ over-indexed in HD HHs (by 35%) with a 57.9 rating compared to their 42.9 composite rating.

Do Viewers DVR the Super Bowl?

-- In March of 2008, US DVR penetration was at 23.7%. As of January 2009 that number had increased to 29.6%.

-- Whether it was to replay a commercial or an amazing catch, over 3.2 million viewers contributed to the Live +SD data stream (tuning credited at the time program originally aired plus any DVR playback within the same Nielsen processing day), boosting the game's Live HH Rating from a 42.0 to 43.1.