Super Bowl Counterprogramming

Super Bowl Counterprogramming

Although it is consistently one of the most watched sports television events in the United States, television broadcasters have often attempted to counterprogram against the Super Bowl by intentionally running new original programming against the game, often during its halftime break.

The practice was popularized by Fox: prior to Super Bowl XXVI in 1992, the performance group Up with People performed in four Super Bowl halftime shows between 1976 and 1986 (the most of any act in the game's history), and performed at the pre-game show of Super Bowl XXV in 1991. By the 1990's, the style of halftime performance they helped define during the 1970's and 80's were frequently lambasted by critics for being too dated and not in touch with modern popular culture, while some of Up With People's halftime shows were regarded by critics as being the worst in Super Bowl history. As an alternative, Fox aired a special episode of its popular sketch comedy show In Living Color during halftime at Super Bowl XXVI (which featured a halftime show entitled "Winter Magic", starring Gloria Estefan). The live episode (which featured football-themed sketches and a clock counting down to the end of halftime) drew 22 million viewers; Nielsen estimated that CBS lost 10 ratings points during halftime as a result of the special.

The unexpected success of the In Living Color special prompted the NFL to take steps to prevent the further loss of viewers at halftime during future games: beginning at Super Bowl XXVII, the league began to invite major pop music performers to perform during the halftime show. The first of these, featuring Michael Jackson, led to a dramatic increase in viewership between halves—the first in the game's history. This practice continued until 2005, when an incident at Super Bowl XXXVIII's halftime show involving Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson prompted a string of halftime shows featuring classic rock acts (such as The Rolling Stones and Bruce Springsteen, aiming to prevent a repeat of the incident) until Super Bowl XLV, where The Black Eyed Peas became the first pop act in six years to perform at the Super Bowl halftime show.

Recurring Super Bowl counters have included Animal Planet's annual Puppy Bowl, a special featuring dogs playing in a model football stadium, and the Lingerie Bowl, a series of pay-per-view broadcasts of all-female football games played in lingerie—proving popular enough to be spun-off into its own Lingerie Football League. Out of respect, the two remaining networks of the three who regularly air NFL games (CBS, Fox, and NBC; who also alternate airing the Super Bowl on a yearly cycle) will typically not schedule any new programming (nor air counterprogramming) on the night of the Super Bowl.

Cable channels often air special marathons of existing programming prior to or against the game: in 2009, AMC aired the first three Death Wish films, DIY Network broadcast a marathon of bathroom-related programming known as the "Toilet Bowl", and ESPN aired a marathon of the World Series of Poker.

Counterprogramming efforts are not limited to television; for Super Bowl XLV in 2011, WCHK-FM, a station in the Green Bay, Wisconsin area announced it would counterprogram the game with dead air, since the hometown Packers were in the game. However, its goal was not to attract listeners from the game, but to do the opposite.