Fox Sports' broadcast of Super Bowl XXXI earned a 43.3
rating and 65 share, as the game was watched by an estimated
128.9 million viewers. Fox President David Hill: "I've
always said the Super Bowl would be a defining moment for
the Fox Network." Fox puts Super Bowl XXXI as the fourth-
most watched program in TV history and the highest-rated
Super Bowl not involving the Cowboys since Super Bowl XXIII
in '89. Super Bowl XXXI was the 17th highest-rated Super
Bowl of all-time and the 19th highest-rated sporting event
of all-time (Fox Sports). Fox's postgame telecast for "The
X-Files" averaged a 17.4/29, the program's best rating ever.
Last year's "Friends" episode on NBC drew a 29.6/46 (Richard
Huff, N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 1/28).
PLAYERS: Fox execs were "jubilant" with the rating
(Steve Zipay, NEWSDAY, 1/28). In Chicago, Michael Hirsley
notes Fox execs "were pleased" with a competitive game,
which was "a factor in steady ratings" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE,
1/28). In Baltimore, Milton Kent notes the "super" rating
indicates "it may be time to start treating Fox not as some
knockoff, but as a full-fledged competitor to the heretofore
Big Three" (Baltimore SUN, 1/28).
NOTES: NEWSDAY's Steve Zipay said his "biggest"
complaint with Fox's Super Sunday "was that Fox had no edge.
It had a year to come up with some blockbuster stories for
Super Sunday, to break some news to its widest-ever
audience" (NEWSDAY, 1/28). In L.A., Tom Hoffarth reviews
Fox's Super Bowl telecasts: "Taking excessiveness to new
broadcasting heights, from technical superiority to
broadcast personnel to content linking the past to the
present, Fox made Super Sunday just that" (L.A. DAILY NEWS,
1/28). Fox cut away from Pam Oliver's taped postgame
interview with Patriots coach Bill Parcells because after
Oliver's third question to Parcells about his future, he
cursed at the reporter, leading to Fox not airing the
exchange (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 1/28). NBC's Jay Leno: "Millions
of people saw something in this Super Bowl they've never
seen before -- the 4th quarter" ("Tonight Show," 1/27).
TAKE A SECOND LOOK: Photoscape has posted five Super
Bowl ads on its web site. The company taped the spots, and
is making them available to "anyone who wants to download
them." AD AGE notes some marketers "have steered clear" of
posting ads "because the legal situation surrounding the
Internet is cloudy" (AD AGE, 1/28)...."The News Hour with
Jim Lehrer" examined the Super Bowl. Jim Lehrer wondered if
the game was a "sporting event between two teams of superior
athletes that showcased America at its best, or a gross
display of excess, showbiz and bad manners that did just the
opposite?" ("News Hour," PBS 1/27).
