Canadian television has never given the Super Bowl the level of hype and hoopla seen this week.
The rights holder, CTV, is promoting and carrying content on four of its media platforms as well as airing programming on the main network.
CTV's sports channel, TSN, has sent four broadcasters to Phoenix, where SportsCentre has been based since Monday. ESPN Classic Canada, also owned by CTV, will begin a Super Bowl marathon of vintage telecasts tomorrow. The cable news channel, CTV NewsNet, is also airing reports.
As well, CTV News is providing coverage. Canada AM will begin airing features this morning, although it's unclear what Joe Theismann, the broadcaster and former CFL and NFL quarterback, knows about Super Bowl party tips.
CTV's eTalk will put a celebrity spin on the coverage. Another show, Fashion Television, will explore "the history, marketing, design and branding of NFL uniforms." And during the game telecast (New England Patriots-New York Giants), there will be content on CTV.ca.
Is that enough? Or is it too much?
"It's pretty amazing," an advertising source said. "They've embraced the property in every way that an NFL fan would want. They're really being smart about it."
The wall-to-wall, multi-platform coverage illustrates the enormous cross-promotional and program-sharing opportunities that exist when a large media company buys the rights to the leading sports event in North America.
"It's been kind of a perfect scenario for us," said Rick Brace, CTV's president of business planning, revenue and sports. "The vision has always been, how can we take advantage of the rights that we have across as many services and programs as possible?"
CTV and Rogers Sportsnet together paid a total of about $15-million for NFL rights, a price that was too rich for Global Television, which had been the league's rights holder for 25 years. It was a package deal, but CTV would have paid more than $5-million for the Super Bowl alone.
"CTV's [profit] margin will be smaller than it has been for Global, because it paid more for the rights," a source said. "But CTV will make a substantial profit."
To help pay the bills, CTV increased advertising rates by 10 per cent from last year to about $110,000 for a 30-second spot.
Brace refused to comment, except to say, "We're very pleased with how the deal has turned out. Advertisers have been enthusiastic. Our ratings [for the 1 p.m. regular-season NFL game and postseason] have grown as the year has gone on. For us, we see it as a tremendous success."
Super Bowl records?
If the Super Bowl is close — ideally, the underdog Giants would need to be leading in the fourth quarter — CTV and Fox Television in the United States could be looking at record audiences.
In addition to the Patriots gunning for an unprecedented 19-0 season, Pats quarterback Tom Brady is a major star and the teams involved are based in large markets.
However, Fox Sports president Ed Goren expressed only cautious optimism during a conference call this week.
"I think that if the game is competitive it will be one of the most watched television shows ever," he said. "So, I think viewership could be right up there in the top five of all time shows."
That may sound like a bold prediction, but it's a very attainable goal. The most watched television show of all time was the 1983 finale of M*A*S*H (about 125 million viewers), followed by the 1996 Super Bowl (Dallas Cowboys-Pittsburgh Steelers), with 94.08 million viewers, and last year's Super Bowl (Indianapolis Colts-Chicago Bears) with 93.2 million. The audience for a close game on Sunday could very well top the 1996 Super Bowl viewership.
A rating, which is the percentage of potential households tuned into a telecast, is a different story. Because of viewing fragmentation caused by the multiple channel universe, Super Bowl ratings have declined from a high of 49.1 in 1982.
Could Sunday's game earn a 50 rating?
"In today's world, I don't think you can get a rating of 50," Goren said.
Last year's telecast (CBS) had a 42.6 rating. The record 1996 telecast (NBC) earned a 46.1.
The largest Canadian audience for the Super Bowl was Global's 4.307 million for the 2006 game (Pittsburgh Steelers-Seattle Seahawks).
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