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NBC cites 'equipment failure' for blank screen during Super Bowl commercial break


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Super Bowl viewers were greeted by a blank screen for approximately 15 to 30 seconds during NBC's Super Bowl broadcast on Sunday night.

The awkward lull came during a commercial break in the middle of the second quarter and caused a stir on social media, with some on Twitter jokingly referring to it as the best commercial of the broadcast.

In a tweet, an NBC Sports spokesperson blamed the incident on a "brief equipment failure that we quickly resolved. No game action or commercial time were missed."

NBC told Paste BN Sports on Friday that the network had sold out its advertising slots during the Super Bowl.

A single 30-second advertisement costs more than $5 million, on average.

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Contributing: A.J. Perez

Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on Twitter @Tom_Schad.

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