For about 30 seconds halfway through the second quarter, NBC aired a completely blank screen — just blackness for about half a minute — for almost everyone in major markets.
NBC aired a blank screen instead of a Super Bowl commercial due to an ‘equipment failure’
That was a bizarre moment.
Mostly, we were all confused
Nobody expects the most overproduced and viewed television program of the entire year to have such a jarring mistake. Clearly, NBC did not plan that. At my viewing party in the Dallas market, we thought that we had accidentally turned the TV off.
It wasn’t just us.
NBC Sports soon explained it like this
I guess that makes sense. It wasn’t a traditional commercial spot — just 30 seconds then immediately cutting back to the action — and maybe NBC intended to stay on the field. That’s public relations take on things, so you never know, but it seems logical.
But NBC can’t save itself from jokes.
EVEN BRANDS
AND
Damnit Wendy’s why are you so good at this.
Did that cost NBC “more than $5 million”?
I guess not. But if NBC had intended to air a commercial ...
Either way, WHOOPS.
The worst Super Bowl ever
