Byline: ALAN McKINLAY
TELEVISION coverage of the Super Bowl over here is as grand, overblown and simply fascinating as the event itself.
Dave Hill, the head of Sky Sports before taking charge of Fox, its much bigger brother in the USA, once said: 'For one moment, for three hours, the world watches America in awe. I could die happy on Monday for me to be involved in a Super Bowl production on Sunday.'
Well, Hill gets his wish tomorrow - although for his sake hopefully not on Monday - as Fox will screen the big game live to 800 million worldwide.
The promotional leaflet says: 'Fox's presentation will weave a compelling, cerebral and visceral mix of music and pageantry with down home football.'
That's what ITV were missing out on in their Premiership coverage. If only Des Lynam and Co had paid more attention to the cerebral and visceral, it would have been far more compelling.
Tomorrow is about far more than whether the St Louis Rams can beat the underdog New England Patriots. For a start, it is the advertising industry's Super Bowl as well. The five most-watched programmes of all time are all Super Bowls, and companies have been made or broken by their advertising during the game. Last night on Fox there was an hour-long programme dedicated simply to the best Super Bowl adverts over the years.
An internet poll went for last year's Budweiser effort, where posh college kids rang each other and yelled 'I say, what is occurring with you?' as an update to the famous 'Wasssup?' ad.
And with more women watching the NFL's championship game than ever before, the adverts reach a wide range of viewers. The Super Bowl has been the Holy Day of testosterone for three decades, but not any more. This year, over 40 million women are expected to watch Super Bowl XXXVI, a far bigger draw for female viewers than the traditional favourite, the Academy Awards, which draws 27 million.
All that exposure comes at a price. A 30-second ad during a top-rated show like 'Friends' costs $250,000, but the same slot during the Super Bowl is $2m.
CAPTION(S):
CEREBRAL: Des missed his chance
