Super Bowl 2012 kickoff time, channel, how to watch online, Madonna flash mob

 

Unless you are among the very fortunate who has a ticket and can travel  to Indianapolis, you will be watching the New England Patriots  and the New York Giants from your living room. 

 

 

NBC has the rights to broadcast the big game this year.   Here in the Bay Area, that’s KNTV Channel 11 and Cable station 3 on most cable systems.   The game coverage officially begins at 3 p.m. our time or 6 p.m. if you are watching on the East Coast.   But the actual kickoff will be at 3:30 p.m. PST, 6:30 p.m. EST.

 

 

Expect it to last about 3.5 hours.   The 2012 Super Bowl is longer than most games because of the elaborate half time show.   This year’s show, of course, features Madonna.    But if the game goes into overtime, as the 49ers vs New York Giants game did, it will go past 7 p.m.

 

 

The 2012 Super Bowl pregame show starts at 10 a.m. PST, a full five hours before the game.    KNTV describes the pregame show: “Super Bowl XLVI New York Giants at New England Patriots from Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis (HD) New York beat the Patriots in Week 9 at Gillette Stadium, 24-20, as Eli Manning threw a game-winning touchdown pass to Jake Ballard with 15 seconds remaining.”

 

 

 

Another pregame show called the Road to the XLVI Super Bowl begins at 9 a.m. PST.   KNTV’s listing describes the show:   “An in-depth look at the past season in the NFL and the path taken by the New York Giants and New England Patriots to Super Bowl XLVI.Football coverage.” 

 

You may have heard Tom Brady talking about watching the Super Bowl on an illegal Web site while he was recovering from an injury in Costa Rica.  Well, now, you don’t have to watch it illegally if you want to watch online.

 

This year will be the first year that the you will be able to watch it legally online.   The NFL is partnering with NBC to stream the game live online. 

 

NBC sees the online coverage as a “second screen” rather than an alternative way to watch the game. 

 

 

You have two choices.    NBCSports.com or NFL.com.  The streaming sites will include pre-game programs which will start at 11 a.m.   PST, with the kickoff starting at 3:30 p.m. PST or 6:30 p.m EST.

 

 

You can watch on the iPad, tablet, or laptop but Verizon has the exclusive rights to the Super Bowl 2012 on mobile devices, including smart phones.

 

 

The sites are technically blocked from watching the 2012 Super Bowl XLVI internationally.   But if you live in Canada, you can watch the Super Bowl on Bell Mobile’s TV ap.  But of course, you have to have Bell Canada service to watch the game from the kick off on. 

 

 

Yes and no.  Different ads will run online.   But NBC will make the new commercials available to view on demand after the air on TV.  Of course, many of the Super Bowl 2012 ads have already been leaked online.

 

But once again, the Super Bowl 2012 XLVI kickoff will be at 3:30 p.m. PST,  6:30 p.m. EST and will be broadcast on NBC, KNTV locally, with the pregame shows starting at 9 a.m. PST, noon on the East Coast.   You can watch online on NFL.com or NBCSports.com

 

But most viewers will continue to watch the Super Bowl on TV.   But you will have to hang on until the kick off at 3:30 p.m. PST or 6:30 p.m. if you are watching the game in the East. The Super Bowl is big money, so NBC undoubtedly wants to squeeze as much as they can out of it before the kickoff.   Sunday evenings are traditionally the most-watch TV night of the week.  The 6:30 p.m. EST kickoff time coincides with the prime viewing time on the east.   Super Bowl XLVI may have fewer viewers here on the west coast.  The 3:30 p.m. kickoff is competing with our sunny, warm, beautiful weather.