164.1 MILLION FANS TUNE IN TO SUPER BOWL 47 _ This year's Super Bowl was the most-watched in NFL history. The 164.1 million viewers for the 49ers-Ravens championship game topped the previous record of 162.9 million total viewers for Super Bowl 45 two years ago, when the Packers played the Steelers. It's the fifth consecutive Super Bowl to reach a total audience of more than 150 million viewers.
SUPER BOWL 48 AD RATE LIKELY TO TOP $4 MILLION _ Thanks in part to the huge ratings brought in by Super Bowl 47, advertising industry experts expect next year's big game will likely see 30-second ad rates in the $4 million to 4.2 million range.
... Super Bowl 48 is scheduled to be held on February 2, 2014 (Groundhog Day) at MetLife Stadium at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey. This would be the first Super Bowl to be played outdoors in a cold weather environment, the first in 38 years to be played outdoors on artificial turf, and the first in which two states (New York and New Jersey) will work together with hosting duties.
... To date, the coldest outdoor Super Bowl was Super Bowl 6, in New Orleans, with a kickoff temperature of 39 degrees.
... Next year's Super Bowl will air on FOX.
NFL: WE HAD A BACKUP GENERATOR THE WHOLE TIME _ While you were watching the dark Superdome Sunday night, you might have found yourself wondering why it didn't have a backup generator. The answer: It did. There was a backup system, the NFL said Monday, and they were just about to turn it on when the main power came back online, 34 minutes into the blackout.
... The League didn't say why it took so long to get the backup power ready, or what had caused the blackout (beyond an "abnormality"), but they did say that, thanks to the backup system, they never considered postponing the game. Roger Goodell had "sole authority" over all contingency plans. Had they not had power, there were other "backup plans," all involving playing all 60 minutes of the game at some point.
DOWNTON ABBEY' HOLDS UP AGAINST SUPER BOWL _ On a night dominated by the Super Bowl, Downton Abbey still managed to draw an impressive crowd on Sunday. Roughly 6.6 million viewers tuned in. Overall, the average audience for season three’s first five episodes is 72% higher than the first five episodes of season two.
... The season premiere on January 7 averaged 11.1 million viewers, which made it the most-watched PBS drama of all time.
KISSING BAR REFAELI "WAS LIKE KISSING PARADISE" _ GoDaddy may not have received much positive feedback from their most recent Super Bowl ad, but actor Jesse Heiman seems to have come out on top. The 34-year-old starred in one of Sunday’s most talked-about commercials as the nerdy side of GoDaddy’s business model to Bar Refaeli’s sexy side. The duo proceeded to lock lips in a sloppy, saliva-filled makeout session for a solid 10 seconds. Heiman says, "It was like kissing paradise or kissing God's hands. I was just in awe that I got to kiss her but I really enjoyed it."
... Viewers will be seeing more of him soon. He recently did an episode of The Big Bang Theory which will air February 14.
RICKI LAKE’S TALK SHOW CANCELLED _ Actress Ricki Lake’s new TV talk show has been cancelled after just one season. Lake spent 11 years on air with her self-titled daytime chat show before it was axed in 2004, but she returned to the small screen last autumn as the host of the The Ricki Lake Show.
IROSIDE REMAKE MOVES FORWARD_ NBC is moving forward with a remake of the 1967-1975 drama Ironside. Variety says there's talk that Blair Underwood has been approached to star in the pilot. The original series starred Raymond Burr as a wheelchair-bound detective in San Francisco named Robert T. Ironside...
KRISTEN WIIG JOINS ANCHORMAN 2_ Anchorman director Adam McKay tweeted Monday night that Kristen Wiig has officially joined the cast of the film's sequel. Anchorman star Will Ferrell and Wiig appeared together last month as presenters at the Golden Globe Awards. Anchorman: The Legend Continues will hit theaters in December...
SPIDER-MAN SEQUEL STARTS FILMING_ The sequel to The Amazing Spider-Man is officially underway. Director Marc Webb just tweeted a picture of himself and his cinematographer on the set of the film, along with the caption: Day One. The Spidey sequel, which again stars Andrew Garfield as the web-slinger and Emma Stone as his squeeze Gwen Stacy, as well as Jamie Foxx andPaul Giamatti as baddies Electro and Rhino, respectively, opens May 2, 2014...
