Super Bowl ads sold out; focus turns to enhancing experience

As the top teams in the National Football League duke it out for a possible shot at the Super Bowl, many of the big game's participants - its advertisers - are already set to play. Besides being one of the most-watched sports events in the world, the Super Bowl has long been renowned for the efforts of advertisers to step up their game. Whether they're jaw-droppingly funny, star-studded or just plain puzzling, Super Bowl ads are a hot topic of real-life and digital conversations for months afterward. Many brands have seen their stock rise substantially following a particularly memorable ad. 

Fox recently announced that it sold all of the commercial time allotted for the Super Bowl XLVIII broadcast more than two months before it will air, reported Broadcasting & Cable. Most of the 30-second commercials sold in the $4 million range, although prices rose slightly to about $4.5 million for the last few remaining spots. Programming prices are up from just under $4 million last year, when 108.3 million people tuned in to watch the Baltimore Ravens eke out a win over the San Francisco 49ers in New Orleans.

With the ads sold, concentration now turns to enhancing the viewer experience. Programming decisions in slots leading up to the game, as well as more interactive elements to enhance the pre- and in-game experience, are likely on the table. Additionally, it will be important to ensure that all systems are go for the live event. As last year's game, now dubbed the "Blackout Bowl" due to a power outage in the Superdome stadium that stopped the game for 34 minutes, indicated, anything can happen during a live program, so video broadcast systems and engineers have to be prepared. 

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