ABC "hopes to differentiate" its Super Bowl pregame
show Sunday from previous pregame shows "with a refreshing
strategy: long features that have nothing to do with Super
Bowl XXXIV," according to Richard Sandomir of the N.Y.
TIMES. ABC Sports Senior VP/Production John Filippelli: "I
don't mean any disrespect to anyone who's done these shows
before, but the boat has been missed without stuff that made
people say, 'Did you see that?'" (N.Y. TIMES, 1/28). But in
Boston, Howard Manly writes that ABC "has had plenty of time
to prepare some interesting features for its four-hour
pregame show. It didn't." Manly writes that "most" of the
features "are underwhelming, showing a lack of imagination
in this age of dot-com coolness," but adds that "not all of
the features are horrid," as Mike Tirico's Vince Lombardi
feature and Brent Musburger's Walter Payton tribute are
"fine journalistic layups." Manly writes that Andrea
Kremer's report on concussions in the NFL is the show's
"best story." But Manly adds that the "next time ABC has
the Super Bowl, it should either let ESPN handle the pregame
show with its army of uniquely qualified reporters, or
simply rerun Super Bowl tapes from NFL Films" (BOSTON GLOBE,
1/28). In L.A., Tom Hoffarth writes the "lowlight" of the
pregame show is singer Phil Collins being interviewed by
Chris Berman (L.A. DAILY NEWS, 1/28). Also in L.A., Larry
Stewart notes ABC's "feel-good" mentality for the pregame
show and writes that viewers shouldn't "expect anything on
[team] owners Georgia Frontiere or Bud Adams or Rams
linebacker Leonard Little, who was involved in a fatal
drunk-driving accident" (L.A. TIMES, 1/28).
YOUNG COULD BE THEIR LUCKY STAR? Stewart also writes
that "the star of the pregame show could be" 49ers QB Steve
Young, who will be serving as an analyst. Stewart writes
that Young, who worked ABC's Wild-Card games, is "glib,
bright, a good communicator and has a sense of humor" (L.A.
TIMES, 1/28). In Milwaukee, Bob Wolfley calls Young
"amiable and intelligent," but he has "discovered that TV
work is harder than it looks" (JOURNAL SENTINEL, 1/28).
MIXING SOME SYNERGY: ABC's "Good Morning America" had
host Charlie Gibson and weatherman Tony Perkins broadcasting
live from both the GA Dome and The NFL Experience. "GMA"
profiled Rams QB Kurt Warner and Rams Owner Georgia
Frontiere, while ABC's Al Michaels and Boomer Esiason
previewed Sunday's game ("Good Morning America," 1/28).
ENHANCE ME! In L.A., Tom Hoffarth wrote that the
"abundance" of dot-com ads during the game "might bring ABC
generous advertising dollars, but it could also have a
backlash" by "enticing viewers to leave the TV to check out
a Web site," and also "jamming" Internet use that "could
affect" ABC's Enhanced TV feature. Hoffarth noted there are
"250,000 spots available for Enhanced TV," which will be
made accessible through links on ESPN.com, NFL.com and
Superbowl.com, as well as Disney's Go.com. Enhanced TV Exec
Producer Jonathan Leess: "We don't know the kind of Internet
use there will be on a Super Bowl Sunday. ... That's the
fear I have right now" (L.A. DAILY NEWS, 1/24). Leess
estimates that 300,000-400,000 users will click onto
Enhanced TV Sunday during the game. Leess: "The numbers
mirror Nielsen ratings, and we were averaging between 80,000
and 100,000 users a game during the regular season. The
audience will be three to four times greater on Sunday."
NEWSDAY's Steve Zipay reports that a user stays on the site
an "impressive" average of 40 minutes (NEWSDAY, 1/28).
A GOOD OMEN FOR SUNDAY? USA TODAY's Rudy Martzke
reports that ratings for the NFL playoffs "have slumped" 11%
overall from last year, but "the slight 4% decline" for
Sunday's Conference Championship Games on Fox and CBS
"indicates the public has caught on to relative unknowns St.
Louis and Tennessee" (USA TODAY, 1/28). See (#8).
