Go Daddy ad wins ‘most-watched’ title

Go Daddy ad wins ‘most-watched’ title

NEW YORK — The Go Daddy Web site’s “enhancement” ad with Danica Patrick was the most-watched commercial in the Super Bowl.

TiVo Inc. made that determination by combining the number of people who watched the ad live and went back to see it again on their digital video recorder.

Placing the ad in the game’s final few minutes was a huge gamble that paid off for Go Daddy Group Inc. If it had been a lousy game, much of the audience would have drifted away, but the gripping finish between Pittsburgh and Arizona kept fans watching.

Todd Juenger, general manager of TiVo’s research department, says eight of the 10 most-watched ads came in the second half.

Super Bowl ratings down from last year’s high

NEW YORK — Preliminary Nielsen Media Research ratings show the Super Bowl’s audience was likely down from last year’s peak, but about on par with the 2007 and 2006 games.

The Pittsburgh-Arizona game on NBC recorded a 42.1 rating and 65 share in Nielsen’s overnight measurement of the nation’s top cities. The same measurement for last year’s New York Giants-New England Patriots game, which was the most-watched Super Bowl ever, was 44.7.

The 2007 preliminary rating was identical to this year’s, and the 2006 game was 42.2, Nielsen said. Each rating point represents 1,145,000 households. The share means 65 percent of the televisions turned on during the game were tuned to the game.

A viewership estimate was not immediately available, but will likely be about 90 million.

Bon Jovi finds a home in Jersey hall of fame

TRENTON, N.J. — A note from New Jersey to Jon Bon Jovi: You may have been snubbed by the Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame, but you’re still wanted in the Garden State.

Bon Jovi and 12 others — including NBA star Shaquille O’Neal and civil rights activist Paul Robeson — were named to the New Jersey Hall of Fame on Monday. The honor is meant to highlight positive contributions made to a state often stereotyped as a land of corrupt politicians, belching refineries and gangsters.

“This group of hall of famers embodies the spirit of New Jersey, a combination of drive, determination and creativity that has led them to greatness,” Gov. Jon Corzine said in a statement.

The winners were chosen by New Jersey residents, who had months to pick their favorites online, and by the hall’s voting academy, made up of 100 state organizations. All inductees have deep ties to the state.

Other inductees to the hall’s second class include funnymen Bud Abbott and Lou Costello; astronomer Carl Sagan; Yankee shortstop Phil Rizzuto; novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald; poet Walt Whitman; comedian Jerry Lewis; tennis star Althea Gibson; inventor Guglielmo Marconi; and writer William Carlos Williams.

A girl for Erykay Badu

NEW YORK — Erykah Badu gave birth to a baby girl this weekend — and twittered about the experience.

Universal Motown Records Group, the singer’s record label, says the baby was born Sunday and both mother and daughter “are doing fine.” The father is Badu’s boyfriend, rapper Jay Electronica.

The couple blogged about the birth on the Twitter Web site. Badu said she had a home birth that lasted about five hours and that she didn’t use painkillers.

Badu, whose real name is Erica Wright, has a son and a daughter from previous relationships.

Today’s birthdays

Singer Dennis Edwards (The Temptations) is 66. Guitarist Dave Davies of The Kinks is 62. Singer Melanie is 62. Actress Morgan Fairchild is 59. Actor Nathan Lane is 53. Actor Thomas Calabro (“Melrose Place”) is 50. Actress Michele Greene (“L.A. Law”) is 47. Rapper Sean Kingston is 29.