Although the Super Bowl is by the top ratings grabber on American television, not everyone watches for the actual football game.
Nope. A huge proportion of the Super Bowl audience is there for the commercials – probably the only time that happens each year.
This year, CBS has announced that there will be two Super Bowl Commercials Specials: Superbowl’s Greatest Commercials 2016 – hosted by Boomer Esiason and Katherine McPhee – which will countdown the top fifty Super Bowl commercials of all-time, and Super Bowl Commercials All-Star Countdown -hosted by Kevin Frazier – which will countdown the top ten spots from Super Bowl Commercials All-Star Countdown and preview what may well be some of the top commercials from Super Bowl 50.
Follow the jump for dates and times.
CBS ANNOUNCES TWO SUPER BOWL SPECIALS
“THE NFL TODAY’S” BOOMER ESIASON AND KATHARINE McPHEE, STAR OF CBS’S “SCORPION,” RETURN TO HOST “SUPER BOWL’S GREATEST COMMERCIALS 2016,” CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF GREAT COMMERCIALS WITH A TOP 50 COUNTDOWN, TUESDAY, FEB. 2
During the Broadcast on Feb. 2, Fans Can Vote for the Top Two Commercials on CBS.com, with the Winner Revealed Live
Top Editors and Writers of Time, Inc. Publications, Including People, Entertainment Weekly, Fortune, Money, Time and Sports Illustrated, to Rank the Top 50 Commercials
“SUPER BOWL’S GREATEST COMMERCIALS ALL-STAR COUNTDOWN,” A NEW SPECIAL HOSTED BY “ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT” CO-HOST KEVIN FRAZIER,
OFFERS SNEAK PEEKS OF THE HIGHLY ANTICIPATED COMMERCIALS TO AIR DURING “SUPER BOWL 50,” SATURDAY, FEB. 6
CBS announced today two Super Bowl specials that will air prior to SUPER BOWL 50.
First, SUPER BOWL’S GREATEST COMMERCIALS 2016 will celebrate 50 years of great Super Bowl commercials with a top 50 countdown culminating in a live announcement of the greatest Super Bowl commercial of all time from Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. home of SUPER BOWL 50. It will be broadcast Tuesday, Feb. 2 (8:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network and available live and on-demand across digital platforms through CBS All Access. It is hosted by Boomer Esiason, Analyst for CBS Sports’ NFL pre-game show THE NFL TODAY, and Katharine McPhee, star of the CBS drama SCORPION.
Also, SUPER BOWL’S GREATEST COMMERCIALS ALL-STAR COUNTDOWN, a new special hosted by ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT’S co-host Kevin Frazier from Pier 48 in San Francisco, to be broadcast Saturday, Feb. 6 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network and available live and on-demand across digital platforms through CBS All Access. The special will be a Super Bowl Commercial celebration where Frazier will take viewers through the top 10 spots revealed in the SUPER BOWL’S GREATEST COMMERCIALS 2016 special and offer sneak peeks of the highly anticipated commercials to air during CBS’s SUPER BOWL 50.
This year, SUPER BOWL’S GREATEST COMMERCIALS 2016 has the top editors and writers of Time, Inc. publications, including Jess Cagle, Editorial Director at People; Dalton Ross, Executive Editor-at-Large at Entertainment Weekly; Daniel Roberts, writer at Fortune; Susie Poppick, Associate Editor at Money; Sean Gregory, Senior Writer at Time; and Richard Deitsch, Senior Editor at Sports Illustrated, as the Time Inc. Editorial Blue-Ribbon Panel in charge of ranking the 50 Super Bowl Commercials from spots 50 through three. The top two commercials will be posted on CBS.com at 8:00 PM, ET/5:00 PM, PT, at which time viewers can vote for the greatest commercial of all time. The winner will be revealed live during the East Coast broadcast at 10:00 PM, ET.
The Super Bowl wouldn’t be the same without the commercials during the game. For the advertising community, the Super Bowl is their Super Bowl, and they often create commercials specifically for the enormous viewership that the game provides. For many, watching the commercials is the most entertaining part of the Super Bowl and advertisers try to get their money’s worth by unveiling their most original and creative spots. This year’s two-hour special, now in its 16th year, will celebrate the greatest commercials that have become almost as big as the game itself in the last 50 years.
Also included in the special on Feb. 2 will be reports by Kevin Frazier from various locations in San Francisco about how the city is preparing for Super Bowl Sunday. Frazier will interview stars from classic Super Bowl commercials and provide scoop on where some of the stars are now. In addition, THE NFL TODAY will weigh in with their Super Bowl commercial analysis, and their picks will be posted on CBS.com when the site launches on Thanksgiving Day. Each week beginning Monday, Dec. 7, five new spots from the special will be posted to CBS.com until the special airs. The categories include Game Changers, Best of Bud, Animals, Celebrities and Over the Top.
Esiason, who quarterbacked the Cincinnati Bengals, New York Jets and Arizona Cardinals during a 14-year NFL career, joined CBS Sports in February 2002 as a studio analyst for THE NFL TODAY, the CBS Television Network’s NFL pre-game show. He joins host James Brown, Bill Cowher, Tony Gonzalez and Bart Scott in the studio. In addition, Esiason serves as an analyst on INSIDE THE NFL on SHOWTIME, as well as a contributor on NFL MONDAY QB on CBS Sports Network.
Upon retiring after the 1997 season, Esiason headed straight for the broadcast booth. He made his debut as a commentator for ABC’s NFL “Monday Night Football,” and called “MNF” games for two years. For the past 14 years, he has called games for Westwood One Radio Sports “Monday Night Football” broadcasts, teaming with Marv Albert for eight of those years. Once again this year, he teams up with Kevin Harlan on the MNF radio broadcasts. Esiason debuted as host of WFAN’s national weekday morning radio show BOOMER AND CARTON IN THE MORNING on Sept. 4, 2007. He also hosted “The Boomer Esiason Show” on Madison Square Garden Network for eight years. During the 2001 season, he served as an analyst on Fox Sports Net’s “NFL This Morning.”
Throughout his career, Esiason, along with his wife, Cheryl, has been a committed and active participant in many charitable causes, including the Boomer Esiason Foundation, established in 1993 to fight cystic fibrosis after his son, Gunnar, was diagnosed with the disease. To date, the foundation has raised more than $115 million.
McPhee is an accomplished actress and singer who first burst onto the scene in 2005 on Season 5 of “American Idol.” She is best known to television audiences starring opposite Debra Messing in the musical drama “Smash,” executive produced by Steven Spielberg. McPhee’s additional television credits include the television movie “In My Dreams,” as well as guest-starring in the series “CSI: NY,” on the Network, “Community” and “Family Guy.” Also, she was featured on two PBS specials, “Foster and Friends” and “Chris Botti in Boston,” alongside Sting, Andrea Bocelli and John Mayer.
McPhee’s feature film credits include “The House Bunny.”
McPhee’s self-titled debut album landed at #2 on the Billboard 200 chart in 2007. It was also the best chart debut for a female artist in two years. Her first single, “Over the Rainbow/My Destiny,” debuted at #2 on Billboard’s Hot Singles Sales chart. The album went gold in 2008, and in 2009, she garnered a Young Hollywood Award for Best Female Vocalist. McPhee is set to release her new album, Hysteria, this summer featuring the single, “Lick My Lips.”
McPhee spent 2010 touring the country with her album, Unbroken, which included the hit single, “Had It All.” She released her first Christmas album in 2010, which covered the yuletide classics and featured an original Christmas song, “It’s Not Christmas Without You.” Another song from that album, “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” climbed the charts as a top-five holiday hit.
In addition to her acting and singing career, McPhee is a passionate philanthropist, currently serving as a spokesperson for Malaria No More (www.McPheeOutreach.org). McPhee was born, raised and currently resides in Los Angeles. Her birth date is March 25. She can be followed on Twitter @katharinemcphee.
SUPER BOWL’S GREATEST COMMERCIALS 2016 is being produced by IMG Productions, JUMA Entertainment and Robert Dalrymple Productions. Robert Horowitz and Steve Mayer are the executive producers, Tony Lanni is the co-executive producer and Robert Dalrymple is the producer. Mark Ritchie will direct.
SUPER BOWL’S GREATEST COMMERCIALS ALL-STAR COUNTDOWN is being produced by JUMA Entertainment and IMG Productions. Robert Horowitz is the executive producer, Tony Lanni is the co-executive producer and Robert Dalrymple is the producer. Michael Dempsey will direct.