CBS to give coveted post-Super Bowl slot to 'Elementary'

By Joe Flint

Nov. 5, 2012 12 AM PT

Who will be playing in the next Super Bowl won’t be known for another three months but CBS has already decided what show it will air once the final gun for the big game sounds.

Getting one of the most sought after spots in television is CBS’s drama “Elementary,” which stars Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu as a modern-day Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. The show made its debut this fall and has been a solid performer for CBS. The game will air on Feb. 3.

The Super Bowl is the most-watched program in the United States every year. Last season’s game between the New York Giants and New England Patriots drew an audience of 111.3 million viewers, according to Nielsen, which made it the most watched TV program ever in America.

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NBC, which had last sason’s game, used that big audience to launch the second season of its musical competition show “The Voice,” which drew more than 37 million viewers. The Super Bowl rotates between, Fox, CBS and NBC every season.

The broadcast networks used to try to launch new programs out of the Super Bowl but now tend to use it to promote existing shows. The last time a new show was launched behind the Super Bowl was when CBS premiered the reality program “Undercover Boss” in 2010.

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Follow Joe Flint on Twitter @JBFlint.