In preliminary ratings, "Super Bowl XLIII" delivered a 42.1 rating (percentage of TV households watching) and a 65 share (percentage of sets in use that were tuned to the game) nationally. Each ratings point represents 1,145,000 households. About 90 million people watched the game.

On WPXI in Pittsburgh, the game drew a 53.6 rating and a 79 share. Phoenix, home of the Cardinals, was the No. 9 market for the game (47.5/80), behind Norfolk (52.6/72); Jacksonville, Fla. (50.6/71); Buffalo, N.Y. (50.4/68); Richmond, Va. (49.3/67); Tampa, Fla. (49.2/70); Ft. Myers, Fla. (48.1/68); and Cleveland (47.7/69).

Compared to last year's most-watched Super Bowl ever (New York Giants vs. New England Patriots), national overnight ratings for the game declined from a 44.7/66 but were on par with Super Bowl ratings in 2007 and 2006, when the Steelers most recently played in the game.

Locally, this year's game on WPXI was slightly lower rated than the contest on WTAE in 2006, which had a 57.4 rating and 83 share.

In post-game competition among local stations, WPXI remained on top, winning the 10:30 and 11 p.m. half hours. At 10:30, WPXI was tops (43.2/65) with WTAE second (8.3/13) and KDKA third (7.4/11). At 11 p.m., WPXI was again No. 1 (25.6/39) with WTAE No. 2 (11.6/18) and KDKA No. 3 (10.6/16).

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was scheduled to appear on CBS's "Late Show With David Letterman" last night and Super Bowl MVP Santonio Holmes will visit NBC's "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" (11:35 p.m., WPXI) on Thursday.

Steelers parade pre-empts

KDKA will carry Steelers victory parade coverage beginning today at 11 a.m. "The Price Is Right," "The Young the Restless" and "The Bold and the Beautiful" will air in the normal time slots on WPCW, Channel 19. Depending on how long the parade runs, "As the World Turns" will be joined in progress or will air at 2:07 a.m. Wednesday on KDKA.

WPXI coverage begins at 11 a.m. on Channel 11 and PCNC. WPXI does not plan to re-schedule pre-empted programs. A replay of the parade will air on PCNC tonight at 9.

WTAE will begin live coverage of the parade at noon. The station had not announced plans for when its pre-empted programs at press time. (ABC soaps repeat on cable's SOAPnet beginning at 7 p.m. each weeknight). The main phone number for WTAE is 412-242-4300.

Comcast drops WBGN again

The relationship between low-power independent station WBGN and Comcast has soured once again, prompting the cable company to drop WBGN from its lineup. WBGN carries a noontime Mass from St. Mary of Mercy church, Downtown, and the locally produced "It's Alive Show" in addition to syndicated programs such as "Martha Stewart" and "American Idol" reruns from past seasons.

Because it's a low-power station, WBGN does not fall under the Federal Communication Commission's "must-carry" rules and is forced to pay cable systems for carriage. WBGN is not currently carried by Verizon's FiOS TV.

WBGN is available over the air on various channel positions, including Channel 59 in Pittsburgh.

Comcast released a statement saying the company "regrets that it was forced to remove WBGN from its lineup following numerous contractual and financial violations. We are disappointed that despite repeated notifications, meetings and offers of assistance, WBGN continues to be out of compliance, as it has been for the past year. We will continue to offer our customers a wealth of local programming, including Comcast Local Edition, relevant local video on demand programming and more."

A Comcast spokesman said the Mass from St. Mary of Mercy will continue to be carried at the same time on the same channel where WBGN used to appear.

WBGN owner Ron Bruno acknowledged that the station has fallen behind in its payments to Comcast -- 17 percent behind over the course of 24 months. Bruno said he's contractually forbidden from discussing specific numbers.

"We are making payments, it just isn't the full amount," Bruno said. "We're going to pay everything we owe them and we're still willing to pay. They make enough money from us to buy a very nice house on a very nice golf course in Pittsburgh. They lost that money and what they have on is a blank screen."

Comcast has dropped WBGN in the past, including in November 2006 after Comcast took over Adelphia's cable systems. A Comcast spokesman said the company has been extremely patient with Bruno and met with him repeatedly and tried "to provide every opportunity to manage and grow that business. We were contractually obligated to notify him five days prior to exercising our right to not renew the contract and we provided 45 days with the hope of compliance." Comcast also increased the number of homes where WBGN was available without increasing the cost to WBGN.

WBGN is not currently broadcasting in digital, but Bruno said the station expects to convert to digital sometime this summer.

Channel surfing

TNT has renewed "Leverage" for a second season. ... ABC Family has canceled "Kyle XY," which will end on a cliffhanger, but renewed "Greek" and "Lincoln Heights." ... History Channel's "Ax Men" returns for a second season on March 2.