Michael Jackson and Super Bowl

[CherubimII]

How Michael Jackson Saved The Super Bowl
http://www.forbes.com/sites/mikeozanian/2013/02/03/how-michael-jackson-saved-the-super-bowl/

Who Is It (Michael Jackson song)
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It wasn’t the competition on the gridiron that turned the Super Bowl into the world’s most valuable sporting event brand. It was competition for the game’s halftime television audience.

The NFL had been doing something special for the Super Bowl’s halftime show since its first contest in 1967. The game plan was working fine as viewership and advertising rates kept increasing. But in 1992 Fox boss Rupert Murdoch spotted a weakness: the Super Bowl’s halftime acts were long and weak and most of all, they weren’t hip. Some decent names performed. But not the really big ones. People stopped watching. Especially the young, hip audiences advertisers crave.

Fox, which had yet not become a partner of the NFL, saw a way to score: During the 1992 game when Gloria Estefan was performing Fox had its popular show In Living Color do a live Super Bowl spoof complete with a game clock so viewers could see when the second half of the Super Bowl was going to start and switch back to CBS. The episode of In Living Color was a huge hit. Ratings for the second half of the Super Bowl crashed 10 points.

Makes sense. If you’re twentysomething and have had a couple of beers would you rather see a show produced by Rosie Perez with Keenan and Ivory Wayans and Jim Carrey, or Estefan?

The NFL learned this lesson: Don’t skimp on your most-prized asset. Enter Michael Jackson for the Super Bowl’s 1993 halftime show on NBC. The biggest act on the planet for the biggest game. The Super Bowl’s ratings increased 8.6% over the previous year and just as important NBC kept its audience during halftime as well as the game’s second half.

MJ had scored the Super Bowl’s biggest touchdown. And the NFL, which brings us Beyonce today, has never looked back.
<!-- end div.body -->

---

 

[ivy]

Re: How Michael Jackson Saved The Super Bowl

Before Michael Jackson, Super Bowl halftime shows only had marching bands and stuff and they were super lame. He single-handedly made halftime better for you and for me and the entire human race.

1. His entrance.

2. The way he stood on stage for 90 seconds without doing a damn thing and it was still the greatest thing ever.

3. The dancers.

4. The dancers' faces.

Image by George Rose / Getty Images

5. The hat flip.

6. The moonwalk.

 

[ivy]

Re: How Michael Jackson Saved The Super Bowl

7. His guitarist's hair.

Image by Stephen Dunn / Getty Images

8. How he didn't even care when this kid got in his way.

9. The time he stood on the vent that shot up fog in a Messianic pose and screamed.

Image by George Rose / Getty Images

10. The inflatable globe that sprang up in the middle of "Heal The World" that would have ended the Cold War if it hadn't already ended.

Image by George Rose / Getty Images

11. And most importantly, when Michael grabbed his crotch on national TV and no one cared.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/hunterschwarz/reasons-why-michael-jacksons-super-bowl-halftime

 

[Annita]

http://www.csmonitor.com/The-Cultur...arning+(Christian+Science+Monitor+|+Learning)
Christian Science Monitor

Super Bowl 2013: The 7 best halftime shows of all time


1. Michael Jackson (1993)

The singer performing as the halftime act caused audience numbers to go up during the show itself (the first time that had ever happened during the Super Bowl), causing Jackson's act to be often cited as the reason the Super Bowl tries to book big musical acts for the halftime show rather than the marching bands of yore.

When Jackson first appeared on the stage amid a flash of smoke, he stood dramatically silent and immobile for a full 1.5 minutes while many of the 98,000 at the Rose Bowl Stadium cheered.
During his performance, a chorus of more than 3,000 children from Los Angeles performed "We Are The World," and footage of Jackson being involved in charities was screened. Jackson sang "Billie Jean," "Black or White" and "Jam."

Arlen Kantarian, chief executive of halftime show producers Radio City Productions, remembered how Jackson was struck by the idea of the viewers who would be watching in other countries.
&#8220;He said, &#8216;Man, I&#8217;ll never tour there,&#8217; &#8221; Kantarian recalled in an article with the New York Times which detailed how Jackson's performance forever changed the halftime show. &#8220;We talked to him about the blue-collar football fan that might not otherwise be a Michael Jackson fan and about how he could build a new fan base. He got that as well.&#8221;
Bleacher Report writer Gordon Block ranked Jackson&#8217;s show as the best halftime show ever.

&#8220;Super Bowl XXVII is the standard for all Super Bowl halftime shows, as the league called in the star power of Michael Jackson to keep audiences tuned in to the game,&#8221; Block wrote. &#8220;Jackson did not disappoint&#8230; Since that 1993 show, the halftime performance has become a huge part of the game and made the game much bigger than the sport of football. It's a cultural event and one that is almost impossible to miss.&#8221;

 

[Bonnie Blue]

The NFL learned this lesson: Don’t skimp on your most-prized asset. Enter Michael Jackson for the Super Bowl’s 1993 halftime show on NBC. The biggest act on the planet for the biggest game. The Super Bowl’s ratings increased 8.6% over the previous year and just as important NBC kept its audience during halftime as well as the game’s second half.

Well that's odd. I could have sworn wyman and all those other other critics in the msm said mj was 'over' by the mid 80s, the minute thriller left the top 10. I would say the nfl know more about what's hot and what's not than all those journalists.

Thanks for all the superbowl pix and info.

 

[marebear]

Is Michael actually getting some credit here for something?

 

[windy09]

:cheers:

 

[Ashtanga]

Just >>>

 

[Petrarose]

Guys did you see the girls who came up in the trap like Michael did during his halftime show. When you compare Michael's jump up in the air with these 2 girls, the differences & impact speak for itself.

 

[8701girl]

I know right with michael everyone was like = :wild:

And with those two girls they are like = :yawn:

 

[Ashtanga]

:shifty:

 

[Robbsaber01]

....And yet Madonna has the highest audience for a superbowl performance (sigh). Beyonce came in second.

 

[HIStory]

....And yet Madonna has the highest audience for a superbowl performance (sigh). Beyonce came in second.

Since 1993 Super Bowl has became a more global event. It's broadcast in a lot more countries. For example, in my country (in Europe) NFL has become very popular and Super Bowl is broadcast live in the past few years. In 1993 no one really cared about it here and it wasn't broadcast at all.

 

[billyworld99]

^^ population has grown since 1993 and more people owning tvs and more than one television.

by the way
133M watched the game in 1993 for a 45.1 rating…MJ had a 45.5…so over 133M watched MJ's halftime

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...michael+jackson+ratings+super+bowl+1993&hl=en

 

[Billie Jean 78]

Guys did you see the girls who came up in the trap like Michael did during his halftime show. When you compare Michael's jump up in the air with these 2 girls, the differences & impact speak for itself.

YES!!! I noticed it too :wild:
Michael's jump was like a Superman, the girls' jump was more like a kid dressed as Superman trying to act like Superman.