A network broadcasting the Super Bowl depends so heavily on the game being close. Unfortunately after a stretch of ten years of relatively close contests, we were bound to get a stinker and that’s what happened on Sunday when Super Bowl XLVIII started with a safety and went downhill from there, resulting in a dominant Seattle Seahawks 43-8 win over the Denver Broncos.
When the Seahawks went up 22-0 on a Pick 6 of Denver quarterback Peyton Manning by linebacker and eventual MVP Malcolm Smith, any chance of this game breaking the all-time viewership record of 111.3 million people held by Super Bowl XVLVI on NBC went out the window.
It’s not good that the most memorable part of this year’s Super Bowl was the halftime featuring a great show by Bruno Mars with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and a surprising Seinfeld reunion segment.
Fox had to make due without studio co-host Terry Bradshaw after he left the New York/New Jersey area on Thursday following the death of his father. It meant Michael Strahan had to step into a bigger role during the pregame show and hosting the trophy presentation. Strahan did both decently. However, the studio did miss Bradshaw’s energy and humor. It was a nice touch from Fox to dedicate Sunday’s telecast to the elder Bradshaw.
With a lackluster game, Fox did its best to keep its proverbial head above the water. Joe Buck had his best call in his fourth Super Bowl since taking over as the main NFL on Fox voice. Troy Aikman tried to pick up on trends, but really didn’t keep viewers abreast of Seattle’s stifling defense until later in the game. Unfortunately, neither Buck nor Aikman mentioned that there had not been a shutout in Super Bowl history, a storyline through almost 3/4 of the game until the Broncos scored a meaningless touchdown.
After both CBS and Fox did a fantastic job in picking up field audio throughout the NFL postseason, it was as if the field microphones were forgotten in this game. There were hardly any opportunities to hear Manning’s patented “OMAHA” signals nor did he appear to say them during the Super Bowl, but the field audio was almost non-existent.
A much ballyhooed feature of picking up wind speed and weather patterns at the new Meadowlands using AutoDesk software, the same company behind the famous AutoCad architectural platform, fizzled out when the weather became a non-factor on Sunday as temperatures almost hit 50 degrees at gametime.
Sideline reporters Erin Andrews and Pam Oliver were mostly solid in their roles on Sunday.
Producer Richie Zyontz and director Rich Russo did all they could to squeeze storylines from the game, but by mid-3rd quarter, it was apparent that Seattle had made the contest a runaway.
As for the pregame, from what I saw the best segments were a tribute to the late Pat Summerall, a profile of Vince Lombardi and a look at the new Freedom Tower by Jay Glazer.
A confrontational interview between Fox News Channel’s Bill O’Reilly and President Obama was a reminder that politics should not be part of the Super Bowl pregame.
The Fox Sports Go app was on a free preview and streamed the pregame and the game. The video quality on my wifi connection was very clear and buffered just a few times. The stream was behind my DirecTV feed by 20-30 seconds which is quite decent. Here’s hoping more cable and satellite providers will sign agreements with Fox.
As for the commercials, just a few standouts including Budweiser’s Puppy Love and Fox’s 24 promo. I grade them here.
Overall, I give Fox a solid B for the production and announcing. The pregame receives a C plus. Its grade was dragged down by woeful red carpet segments.
