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Television

By the Numbers: ABCs Super Bowl XL Coverage

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1,000,000,000 worldwide television audience

130,000,000 US viewers

70,000 fans at Ford Field in Detroit

720p HD standard of the broadcast

500 monitors in control trucks

400 crew people for production, technical, administrative and support

180 frames per second of Sony s new experimental super slo-mo camera

100x optical zoom of the longest Canon lens to be used

90 inputs on the video switcher

90 miles of cable for cameras and microphones

60 microphones, including 12 on-field parabolic mics

54 cameras used by FOX at last year s Super Bowl, but not all were HD as they are this year

40 digital video instant replay units

36 TV cameras

36 seasons of ABC NFL coverage, of which this is the last season and last game

29 mobile vehicles

25 degrees, forecast temperature outside the domed stadium at kickoff, a concern of ABC technicians

20 hard cameras (stationary as opposed to hand-held)

10 television production trucks (not including the infamous horse trailer)

10 commercials bought by the game’s biggest advertiser, Anheuser-Busch

7 handheld cameras

6 robotic cameras

6 super slo-mo cameras

5 million dollars per minute to buy a commercial

4 announcers: Al Michaels, John Madden, Michelle Tafoya and Suzy Kolber

3 60-second advertisements (the rest are :30), bought by General Motors, Burger King and ESPN

2 operators for SkyCam: one cameraman, one “pilot”

1 director, Drew Esocoff, his second Super Bowl as a director

ABC Sports Prepares for HD Super Bowl XL [TV Technology]

Super Bowl XL on ABC Sports in SD/HD simulcast [Broadcast Engineering]

Super Bowl XL Ready to Go in Detroit [Broadcast Newsroom]

Super Bowl Gets Supersized Production [Broadcasting & Cable]

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