Alternate broadcasts are all the rage these days with everyone from the Mannings to Stephen A. Smith to Bill Walton to Michael Kay and Alex Rodriguez involved in a supplemental watchalong. But to this point, a network hasn’t offered an alternate broadcast to the biggest television event of the year – the Super Bowl. That will change in 2024 as Super Bowl LVIII will be televised on CBS… and Nickelodeon.
Nate Burleson announced the news on CBS This Morning.
.@Nickelodeon and @cbssports are joining forces to present a slime-filled telecast of Super Bowl LVIII specially for kids and families š @nateburleson will be back in the booth to call the first-ever #SuperBowl alternate telecast, exclusively on Nickelodeon. pic.twitter.com/30aRYWySwL
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) August 1, 2023
Nickelodeon has had recent success with alternate broadcasts for NFL games on CBS as they are both part of the wider Paramount family of networks. The telecasts have been produced with special graphics and commentary targeted towards children and families. Three years ago the Nickelodeon branding was part of a highlight package for the Super Bowl, but this year they are getting an entire game broadcast.
Here’s more details from a CBS Sports press release:
CBS Sports andĀ NickelodeonĀ are bringing the slime to Las Vegas for the first-ever Super Bowl alternate telecast: a kids and family-centric, surprise-filled special presentation of Super Bowl LVIII, airing exclusively on NickelodeonĀ Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024Ā (6:30 PM, ET). Building on the groundbreaking success established with Nickelodeonās Emmy Award-winning special telecast of the 2021 NFL WILD CARD GAME ON NICKELODEON, the alternate telecast of Super Bowl LVIII will be teeming with next-level, eye-popping on-field graphics, guest reporters, virtual filters and more. Paramountās multiplatform coverage of Super Bowl LVIII will feature CBS Sportsā presentation on the CBS Television Network, which will stream on Paramount+ and on mobile with NFL+, in addition to the Nick-ified telecast exclusively on Nickelodeon.
āThis will be a historic Super Bowl in Las Vegas, and weāre thrilled to partner with the NFL to bring the game to the whole family with the first-ever alternate telecast of the Super Bowl,ā said Bob Bakish, president and CEO of Paramount. āIn year one of our new long-term deal with the NFL, we continue to maximize our expanded distribution rights and further unlock the value of the League through the demonstrated power of our multiplatform portfolio across CBS, Paramount+ and Nickelodeon.ā
āWeāre thrilled to partner with CBS Sports and Nickelodeon to present the first alternate telecast of the Super Bowl,ā said Hans Schroeder, NFL executive vice president of media distribution. āOur previous telecasts on Nickelodeon have been huge hits and created a new and different way to experience an NFL game. Weāre excited to bring that creativity to Super Bowl LVIII and give our fans another way to enjoy one of the worldās most popular sporting events.ā
To this point, media companies have resisted the temptation to deliver an alternate Super Bowl broadcast to funnel everyone to the broadcast network in the hopes of breaking the all-time viewership record. You may recall Fox reached that milestone at 115.1 million viewers for last season’s Chiefs-Eagles Super Bowl, although it wasn’t announced until months later after a recount.
The first Nickelodeon alternate broadcast came during a 2011 playoff game between the Chicago Bears and New Orleans Saints and since then the NFL, CBS, and the beloved kids network have teamed together many times. This year there was already a Christmas Day game between the Broncos and Rams on the schedule for Nick with commentary from the one and only Patrick Star. We don’t know who will join Nate Burleson on the Nick alternate broadcast for the Super Bowl, but let’s hope for a generational celebration that includes not just the cast from Spongebob, but Ren & Stimpy, Rocko’s Modern Life, and the Angry Beavers.
