Football fans, technology is with you!

This week-end's Superbowl broadcast will feature:

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
100x optical zoom of the longest Canon lens to be used
180 frames per second of Sony’s new experimental super slo-mo camera
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

Impressive!!