The Office fared better among 18-49 year olds, but was eclipsed by all three airings of American Idol when it came to overall viewers. Of course the most-watched show ever, Super Bowl XLIII topped the list.
Nielsen Top Twenty Shows by viewers for the week ending February 1, 2009:
| Rank | Shows | R=Repeat S=Special P=Premiere | Net | # Viewers (LIVE+SD) (000) | HH rating (LIVE+SD) | HH SHARE (LIVE+SD) | 18-49 Rank |
| 1 | SUPER BOWL XLIII(S) | S | NBC | 98,732 | 42.0 | 64 | 1 |
| 2 | SUPER BOWL POST(S) | S | NBC | 57,399 | 25.7 | 42 | 2 |
| 3 | AMERICAN IDOL-WEDNESDAY | FOX | 27,364 | 15.0 | 23 | 4 | |
| 4 | AMERICAN IDOL-TUESDAY | FOX | 25,539 | 13.7 | 20 | 5 | |
| 5 | AMERICAN IDOL THU SP-1/29(S) | S | FOX | 24,613 | 13.6 | 21 | 6 |
| 6 | OFFICE 2/1(S) | S | NBC | 22,905 | 11.6 | 21 | 3 |
| 7 | CSI | CBS | 20,153 | 12.0 | 18 | 8 | |
| 8 | NCIS | CBS | 19,202 | 11.6 | 17 | 16 | |
| 9 | HOUSE | FOX | 15,692 | 9.3 | 14 | 7 | |
| 10 | Mentalist, THE | R | CBS | 15,226 | 9.6 | 14 | 21 |
| 11 | WITHOUT A TRACE | CBS | 12,999 | 8.2 | 14 | ||
| 12 | TWO AND A HALF MEN | R | CBS | 12,781 | 7.9 | 11 | 14 |
| 13 | ELEVENTH HOUR | CBS | 12,744 | 8.1 | 14 | 19 | |
| 14 | 24 | FOX | 12,223 | 7.1 | 10 | 13 | |
| 15 | LIE TO ME | FOX | 12,205 | 7.2 | 11 | 12 | |
| 16 | FRINGE | FOX | 11,619 | 6.7 | 10 | 11 | |
| 17 | LOST | ABC | 11,226 | 6.4 | 10 | 9 | |
| 18 | BIGGEST LOSER 7 | NBC | 11,078 | 6.5 | 10 | 15 | |
| 19 | HELL'S KITCHEN | P | FOX | 10,858 | 6.3 | 10 | 10 |
| 20 | BACHELOR, THE | ABC | 10,566 | 6.8 | 10 | 17 |
Nielsen Ratings Data: ©2009 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved
All numbers above based on live plus same day DVR viewing.
