2015 Super Bowl

Super Bowl XLIX featured the New England Patriots vs. the Seattle Seahawks, with a final score of 28-24, Patriots. It was the most watched show in American television history, seen by a record 114.4 million U.S. viewers. It was also a tremendous local story, according to TVB. Its analysis of the Super Bowl’s national rating versus local markets over the past few years found that more than 60% of local markets have higher ratings than the national average.

An estimated 114.4 million people watched New England’s thrilling win over Seattle, making it the fifth time in six years that a Super Bowl game has set a record for the most-watched event in U.S. television history. Facebook said an estimated 65 million people conversed about the game on the social media site, more than any other Super Bowl and second only to two World Cup games last year for most talked-about events. There were some 265 million individual posts, comments or “likes,” according to Facebook.

For most people, the game Sunday between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks is the Super Bowl. But for many business owners, it’s simply the “big game” or “game day.” Radio hosts are tripping over their tongues and airport signs are carefully worded to keep from referring to it as the Super Bowl, a trademarked name the NFL strictly polices. Mom-and-pop shops and large companies hoping to cash in on the game — but also don’t want to run afoul of league lawyers — have found ways to color inside the lines.

The network has a lot riding on Sunday’s episode, as it’s using the hit drama to anchor its new Thursday lineup starting next week. Expectations are high.

NBC Universo, the cable network formerly known as mun2, will air a Spanish-language telecast of the Super Bowl on Sunday with play-by-play man Rene Giraldo, analyst Edgar Lopez and sideline reporter Veronica Contreras. The game will be hyped throughout the day on English-language NBC, and that will also be the case on NBC Universo.

The Seahawks are in it for the second straight year, and local ads for the big game are selling for more than $250,000. Every station is offering Super Bowl programming. Overall, TV pricing in the Seattle market is flat to up slightly versus last year, and most dayparts outside of daytime, late fringe and weekends are active.

Students at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism are diving into coverage of Super Bowl XLIX, working side by side with the media now descending upon Phoenix. The Cronkite School will host the event’s Social Media Command Center, and students are producing content on all media and for news orgs inlcuding Sports Illustrated, NFL.com and AZCentral.

Lawmakers said Wednesday the New England Patriots should be able to play in the Super Bowl on Feb. 1 despite an investigation that found the team significantly deflated their footballs in last Sunday’s conference championship.  Even Baltimore Ravens and Seattle Seahawks fans in Congress said the game should go on after the Patriots beat the Indianapolis Colts in the semi-final.

The Super Bowl has been made available online before, but never like this. NBC says it will stream 11 hours of live content before, during and after the big game, including, for the first time, a live broadcast of the postgame drama The Blacklist. But NBC’s big online push is also part of a greater trend at this year’s Super Bowl. It’s really gone digital. For the first time, YouTube is offering its own alternative halftime show, a gimmick many broadcast and cable networks tried back before people surfed the Web during halftime.

NBC announced today that Super Bowl Sunday will also be “Super Stream Sunday.” Starting at noon, the network will stream pre-game coverage, the game, the halftime show, and conclude 11 hours later with The Blacklist. The digital event is intended to promote NBC’s TV Everywhere program by letting sports fans stream all of the content without being prompted to log-in.

YouTube will offer a halftime show during the Super Bowl featuring some of its biggest online stars, part of a broader initiative to promote advertisements on the Google-owned video site.

NFL announced late Sunday — after rumors swirled for weeks — that the pop star will headline the Pepsi Super Bowl halftime show on Feb. 1  in Phoenix. It will air on NBC. The Grammy-nominated star’s upcoming performance is the fourth consecutive halftime show to display the NFL’s push to include younger acts on its large stage.

The Super Bowl still might be the most sought-after ad time on TV — but it isn’t immune to the advertising woes that are impacting the overall TV marketplace. “[Advertisers] are just not ready to make a commitment,” said Seth Winter, EVP-sales and sales marketing, NBC Sports Group and NBC Universal News Group. NBC, which will air the game on Feb. 1, said it has sold about 90% of its available ad inventory during the game, with approximately 9 to 10 slots remaining.

The pop star will perform at this year’s Super Bowl halftime show, sources confirm. Perry’s performance has been speculated since August after the National Football League had reportedly shortlisted her along with Coldplay and Rihanna.

NBC has sold about 75% of the approximately 60 30-second spots that regularly appear during a Super Bowl broadcast, according to the estimates of one media buyer familiar with negotiations. This buyer said NBC may have between 15 and 18 30-second berths left, and suggested the network might face some headwinds in getting to the goal line.

Even before the kickoff for Super Bowl XLVIII takes place on Fox in a few weeks, NBC has made a dent in selling off the ad inventory it has for its 2015 broadcast of the pigskin classic.