Television and Entertainment
The game was broadcast in the United States by CBS and featured the broadcast team of play-by-play announcer Pat Summerall and color commentator John Madden. It was simulcast in Canada on CTV and in the United Kingdom on Channel 4.
The pregame festivities, which paid tribute to George Halas, featured the University of Florida Fightin' Gator Marching Band and the Florida State University Marching Chiefs. After a moment of silence for Halas, Singer Barry Manilow performed the national anthem. The coin toss ceremony featured Pro Football Hall of Fame fullback and defensive tackle Bronko Nagurski.
The halftime show was a "Salute to Superstars of Silver Screen" featuring the University of Florida and Florida State University Bands.
Apple's famous "1984" television commercial, introducing the Apple Macintosh computer and directed by Ridley Scott, ran during a timeout in the third quarter. The advertisement changed how the Super Bowl would be used as a media advertising platform.
The highlight package to Super Bowl XVIII was voice-over artist John Facenda's final project for NFL Films. Facenda died eight months after the game. An expanded version of Black Sunday (the highight film's title) has appeared on NFL's Greatest Games and contains an additional hour of game footage plus audio play-by-play from Bill King and Rich Marotta while retaining Facenda's narration.
Following the game, CBS aired the pilot episode of Airwolf.
Read more about this topic: Super Bowl XVIII
Famous quotes containing the word television:
“The television critic, whatever his pretensions, does not labour in the same vineyard as those he criticizes; his grapes are all sour.”
—Frederic Raphael (b. 1931)