Super Bowl LIII was widely viewed as boring, and preliminary Nielsen ratings bear out that opinion.

The CBS telecast of the game drew 98.2 million viewers Sunday, down more than 5 million from last year to the lowest turnout since 2008. That year, Fox claimed 97.4 million for the New York Giants' defeat over this year's champion New England Patriots. Another 2.6 million people streamed Sunday's game online.

The big game has consistently topped 100 million on TV since 2010, peaking at 114.4 million in 2015. And it remains by far the year's most-watched program.

But the dull game, in which the Patriots defeated the Los Angeles Rams 13-3 – with no touchdown scored through three quarters – was largely to blame for the decline.

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And the smaller audience dented the premiere of CBS reality show "The World's Best," which followed and averaged 22.2 million, down from 27 million for last year's "This Is Us" episode on NBC. CBS has had better luck previously with post-game reality shows, notching 38.7 million for the opener of "Undercover Boss" in 2010 and 45.4 million for the second-season premiere of "Survivor" in 2001.