Super Bowl broadcasts have brought fans closer to game

Super Bowl 50’s broadcast on CBS will feature 70 cameras — counting a cutting-edge 360-degree camera and pylon cams — along with other technology that requires 10 more production trucks than were used on Super Bowl I in January 1967.

Dick Enberg told Paste BN Sports that the advancements over the years were impressive, although they didn’t come without a certain amount of risk.

“There are more engineers, cables and cameras, so there are now more opportunities for something to go wrong,” said Enberg, who called eight Super Bowls. “My warning to Jim Nantz or anybody else involved in broadcasting a Super Bowl is to be prepared in case that technology doesn’t work as planned.”

Enberg, 80, has been there. He was in the booth along with Merlin Olsen as NBC broadcast Super Bowl XVII, which pitted the Washington Redskins against the Miami Dolphins at the Rose Bowl in January 1983.

“The wires were crossed or something,” Enberg said. “We would start a sentence, and then there was a delay where we heard what we just said as we attempted to speak again. It was maddening. It was so awful I thought maybe we had been sabotaged by another network.”

Enberg and Olsen spoke concisely before NBC was able to fix the glitch after a few commercial breaks.

CBS wasn’t immune from technical difficulties. Nantz and Phil Simms, who will again have the call Sunday, were forced off the air when a power outage struck Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans three years ago. CBS Sports chairman Sean McManus said on a conference call with reporters that the network has backup generators ready on-site this time around.

Here’s a look back at how the Super Bowl broadcast has changed over the decades:

Super Bowl I (Jan. 15, 1967)

Green Bay Packers vs. Kansas City Chiefs

Networks: NBC and CBS,

Pregame show length: 30minutes.

Halftime show: University of Arizona and Michigan bands.

Cost of a 30-second commercial: $42,000,

Estimated U.S. viewers: 24.43 million.

The game was simulcast on NBC and CBS, and the networks switched broadcasters at the half. NBC’s had the first half, and CBS’ called the second half.

“Here comes the second-half kickoff, and all of a sudden everything stops,” Jack Whitaker, who called the game for CBS, said during a panel discussion in January. “Whistles are blowing. Referees are running around ... and all of a sudden, it came over the headset: ‘Relax, guys. NBC blew it. They were in commercial. They are going to kick it over again.’”

Not that Los Angeles — the game was held at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum — could watch; the game was blacked out because there were 30,000 empty seats despite tickets having a $12 face value.

Changes to come: CBS developed the slow-motion instant-replay system, used for the first time in pro football games in 1967. The network also debuted the “telastrator” for the first time in September 1970.

Super Bowl X (Jan. 18, 1976)

Dallas Cowboys vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

Network: CBS

Pregame show length: 90 minutes.

Halftime show: Up With People.

Cost of a 30-second commercial: $110,000,

Estimated U.S. viewers: 57.7 million.

Changes to come: The SkyCam, a system of ropes and pulleys that gave viewers a bird’s-eye view, made its NFL debut in an exhibition game between the San Francisco 49ers and San Diego Chargers in August 1984. The SkyCam didn’t make its Super Bowl debut until 2003, but either SkyCam or its sister product, CableCam, has been used at every Super Bowl since.

“On every big football broadcast, the SkyCam is an integral part of the coverage,” McManus said. “It’s used a lot and very effectively. It’s an innovation that has become standard.”

Super Bowl XX (Jan. 26, 1986)

Chicago Bears vs.New England Patriots

Network: NBC.

Pregame show length: Two hours.

Halftime show: Up with People.

Cost of a 30-second commercial: $550,000.

Estimated U.S. viewers: 92.57 million.

Changes to come: Fox became the first network to use a continuous box to display the score and time during the 1994 preseason. (ESPN had used a similar box weeks earlier for the World Cup.) All of the other networks soon made this part of their sports broadcasts.

“That was something (Fox Sports executive) David (Hill) debuted on Fox when they took the NFL away from CBS,” McManus said. “That has become standard in every sports broadcast no matter if it’s football, baseball, basketball, hockey or boxing. It’s part of the way we cover sports.”

Super Bowl XXX (Jan. 28, 1996)

Dallas Cowboys vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

Network: NBC

Pregame show length: 21/2hours.

Halftime show: Diana Ross.

Cost of a 30-second commercial: $1.08 million.

Estimated U.S. viewers: 94.08 million.

Changes to come: For Super Bowl XXXII in 1998, NBC tested high-definition for the first time. Two years later, ABC became the first network to offer a nationwide broadcast of a Super Bowl in HD. The first-down line also made its Super Bowl debut in 1999 on Fox.

“It’s almost impossible to watch a football game without (the first-down line),” McManus said. “If you can catch a game without it or watch some older games, it really changes the viewing experience by not knowing where the first-down line is.”

Super Bowl XL (Feb. 5, 2006)

Seattle Seahawks vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

Network: ABC

Pregame show length: 31/2hours.

Halftime show: Rolling Stones.

Cost of a 30-second commercial: $2.5 million.

Estimated U.S. viewers: 90.74 million.

Changes to come: Super Bowl XLVI (Feb. 5, 2012), broadcast by NBC, became the first to be streamed online. This year’s game will be the first to stream the game plus all of the commercials. CBS also introduced its SuperVision, high-speed cameras that can shoot 300 to 500 frames per second to deliver extremely slow-motion footage in high definition at Super Bowl XLIV in 2010.

“We started using (the high-speed cameras) in golf many years ago at Pebble Beach,” said Lance Barrow, coordinating producer of Super Bowl 50. “When it was brought to us, it had a grainy look and we perfected it. Now, just like the continuous score and clock, every sport has these high-speed cameras.”

Super Bowl 50 (Sunday)

Carolina Panthers vs. Denver Broncos

Network: CBS.

Pregame show length: Four hours.

Halftime show: Coldplay, Beyoncé and Bruno Mars.

Cost of a 30-second commercial: $5 million.

Estimated viewers: TBD