Mischer takes field for halftime show
NFL taps TV vet for malfunction-free Bowl
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Don Mischer Prods. outbid at least four others: Dick Clark Prods., Anschutz Entertainment, Clear Channel Entertainment and Joel Gallen's Tenth Planet.
No performers have signed up for the show yet, but an NFL spokesman said the league will have final say on everything from the talent to the sets and costumes.
The official title is "The Ameriquest Mortgage Super Bowl XXXIX Halftime Show," and the production cost will hover in the $4 million range. The league won't pay any of the performers, who would kill to do the show for free because it harvests more viewers than any other program on TV. The last halftime averaged a 40.8 household rating -- 11 points higher than the rating of the final episode of "Friends" and 14.8 points higher than the rating earned by the last Oscarcast.
Ameriquest will pony up $15 million for sponsorship of the halftime show, plus a rotation of spots within the Super Bowl. Last year's sole halftime sponsor, AOL, coughed up only $10 million.
Mischer produced one other Super Bowl halftime, the 1993 Dallas-Buffalo game. He produced the Opening and Closing Ceremonies for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta and the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. He produced his eighth Emmy Awards show last month, and did the honors at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston.
Super Bowl XXXIX takes place Feb. 6 at ALL TEL Stadium in Jacksonville.
