KCRW's Screengrab: This Year, Post-Super Bowl Viewing Came With a Twist

Every week, Joe Adalian and I talk TV on KCRW's "Screengrab," a weekly segment that airs on Tuesday mornings at 8:45 a.m. on KCRW during "Morning Edition."

On Tuesday's episode, we talked about Netflix's Super Bowl surprise:

When Netflix announced--via an ad on NBC--that the movie 'Cloverfield Paradox' would be available to watch right after the Super Bowl, the internet lost its mind. In a move borrowed from Beyonce, Netflix did no other marketing for the film (other than the $5 million ad). The moment felt like a confluence of a lot of disruptive events: a streamer capitalizing on all the captive eyeballs of the most popular linear TV event of the year, to send viewers to watch a movie in a fashion that's already disrupting the film industry. But, as Ted Sarandos is fond of pointing out, there's enough viewing for everybody. 'This is Us' still got great ratings, even if the numbers for the game itself were down.

Listen below!

Super Bowl Sunday: A Reminder

Happy Super Bowl Sunday! A sad reminder, above, from Target: The first year return of NFL pro football to Los Angeles didn't turn out, well, all that great. Better luck next year?

MIKE ON KCRW: Talking Super Bowl on TV and More on "Press Play"

On Monday's Press Play with Madeleine Brand, Grantland's Andy Greenwalt and I talk about the Super Bowl and other stuff:

Seattle Seahawks fans are emerging from mourning today, the day after the New England Patriots took home the Super Bowl, 28 to 24. But the real winner in all this might just be... Missy Elliott? She was the surprise guest during the game’s halftime show. We talk about the spectacle, the Super Bowl commercials, and this week’s other small screen news in our weekly TV roundup.

Listen below:

Atwater Village Makes Its Super Bowl Pick

Another perfect morning for a bike ride. While pedaling through our favorite 'hood, Atwater Village, I couldn't help but notice the predominant pro-San Francisco 49ers sentiment. (Above, outside the "Thanks For Coming" pop-up restaurant space, and below, at the Atwater Village Farmers Market.)

L.A. Ad Town: Super Bowl 2012 Edition

The Super Bowl was held in Indianapolis this year, but Los Angeles was still on big display during the ad breaks. L.A. regularly plays a big role in commercials, and particularly car ads (which is why we're never hurting for our "L.A. Ad Town" feature). I didn't see quite as many L.A. scenes as last year's crop of ads, but here are a few that stood out:


Official 2012 Honda CR-V Game Day Commercial - "Matthew's Day Off" Extended Version. Matthew Broderick hits the beach, checks out the Natural History Museum, drives through downtown (see pic at the top of this post) and much more. I know some folks criticized this ad, but I loved the "Ferris Bueller" callbacks.


FIAT 500 Abarth - 2012 Super Bowl Commercial - Seduction. If you pause the ad early on, you can see the logo for "California Bank & Trust" and an address number for "550." That would be 550 S. Hope Street in downtown LA. (See below.)



The Voice - Vocal Kombat. The four "The Voice" judges battle it out in the lobby of the Park Plaza Hotel (near MacArthur Park). The Park Plaza is not actually a hotel, but used mostly for parties and film shoots. But here, they've done a great job making it look like one.


Chevy Silverado "2012." The apocalypse has come -- and although some of this looks to have been shot on the Warner Bros. backlot, you can also see some heavily CGI'ed L.A. sights -- including the L.A. river.

Any other L.A.-centric ads that you liked?

Los Angeles Ad Town: Super Bowl Edition

Watching so many back-to-back automotive ads during Sunday night's Super Bowl, I began playing the game "Spot the Downtown Los Angeles image." Downtown Los Angeles has long been a frequent setting for car ads, but this brought it home.

Here's a sampling of last night's Super Bowl car ads, all of which below were shot in downtown:



Kia Optima ad ("One Epic Ride")



Chevy Camaro ad ("Miss Evelyn")



Mercedes Benz ad ("Welcome") In case you miss it: There's a scene where the cars go through a tunnel, with neon on the right-side wall. That's in downtown.



BMW Advanced Diesel ad ("Changes")



Chevy Cruze ad ("Status")



Hyundai Sonata Hybrid ad ("Anachronistic City")

15 Years Later, The NFL Still Teases L.A.

The L.A. Times notes that talk continues to heat up over making L.A. the host city for Super Bowl L in 2016 -- 50 years after Los Angeles hosted the first Super Bowl -- even though the city still doesn't have a pro football team. What's more, talk of a team moving into L.A. continues to center on the San Diego Chargers, which recently hired Wasserman Media Group to market the franchise in L.A. and Orange County.

Writes the paper:

Possible motivations aside, this much is clear: The Chargers, who have been working on a San Diego stadium solution for seven years and so far have been unsuccessful, are better positioned to move than any other NFL team.

Beginning on Super Bowl Sunday -- of all days -- the Chargers will have a three-month window in which to relocate. And, under the team's current lease terms with the city of San Diego, that window will reopen every year from this point forward. The city cannot sue the Chargers or the NFL to block a move, provided it is paid a $56-million lease-termination fee that will decrease over time.

"We're definitely a lot closer to the end of this process than the beginning," said Fabiani, adding that the club has spent $10 million to fully explore stadium options around San Diego County, most recently two sites in Chula Vista. "This is not a process that can go on forever."

At stake for the Chargers is the head start they have over other NFL franchises that also are likely to be mulling relocation. The Oakland Raiders and Minnesota Vikings, for instance, are bound to their cities through the 2011 season.

The issue in L.A. has always been, where would a relocated team play?

The latest option is Ed Roski's proposed stadium in Industry, which should have all of its approvals in place by this spring and then will receive the go-ahead from the NFL to formally approach potential tenants.

Fifteen years after the Raiders and the Rams both left the market, Angelenos have heard this sort of talk too many times now to pay much attention just yet.Sup

Peyton Manning, Meet Blogger Toddler

The Blogger Toddler goes to 11-0 with his picks, successfully choosing the Indianapolis Colts as the Super Bowl XLI Champs. The Colts beat the Bears 29-17 in a sloppy, super wet Miami faceoff.

Some one should have alerted the Bears: The Blogger Toddler is never wrong.

(Pic: L.A. Times)

Blogger Toddler Picks the Super Bowl Champs

The last time we left Blogger Toddler -- dubbed the "Pocket-Sized Nostradamus" by the Hardball Times' Brian Gunn -- our little guy had defied the odds in picking St. Louis to win the World Series.

That brought Blogger Toddler's amazing record to 10-0. Can he make it to 11 wins?

This time out, as you'll see above, Evan is sticking with the favorites, the Indianapolis Colts, to win the Super Bowl. (A day before we did this, we also asked Evan if he liked bears or horses -- he doesn't yet know the word 'colt' -- better. Without pause, he answered: "Neigh-Neighs!" The Colts it is.)

We'll see on Sunday!

K-Fed, Robert Goulet and Ricardo Montalban: A Super Bowl to Remember

Advertising Age has put together a handy roster of who plopped down some serious coin to advertise during this year's Super Bowl. Some new and old advertisers, with spots starring a motley crew of characters: Robert Goulet, Kevin Federline, Ricardo Montalban, Martha Stewart, Janet Reno and David Beckham. But sorry, no chimps this year.

Also, this year's ads will include a surprising number of consumer-generated spots. I guess it's only natural in this YouTube era.

The highlights from AdAge:

Careerbuilder.com: Two spots, in the second and third quarter. "Ads kick off a new campaign called 'It's a jungle out there,' that focuses broadly on things people hate about their jobs. The ads will not feature the Careerbuilder chimps."

Diamond Emerald Nuts: One :30, third quarter. "Robert Goulet stars in the spot."

Frito Lay: One :30, first quarter. "Consumer-generated commercial from winner of the Doritos Crash the Super Bowl Challenge promotion."

General Motors: One :60 corporate spot and a :30 and :60 for Chevrolet. "The :30 spot will be a consumer-generated ad from the winner of the Chevrolet College Big Idea contest. The :60 GM corporate commercial from Deutsch LA, entitled 'Robot,' depicts a robot being banished from an assembly plant by co-workers after dropping a small screw, causing the line to be shut down. The aim is to show how obsessive GM is about quality. Spot will also tout GM's 100,000-mile/five-year powertrain warranty on all 2007 models."

Snapple: One spot, :30, fourth quarter. "First time Super Bowl advertiser, its spot will showcase the metabolism-boosting powers of its Green Tea as it follows a tea-loving pilgrim on his quest for metabolic enlightenment. Will also promote new super premium line of Red, White, Green and Black teas."

Sprint: One spot in second quarter. "A new spot, part of its 'Power Up'campaign, promises 'a certain level of intellectual humor.'"

Taco Bell: At least one spot. "Taco Bell will promote its launch of Carne Asada Steak Grilled Taquitos with a spot where two lions discuss the meat and get a lesson in rolling their R's from voiceover announcer Ricardo Montalban."

NFL: 10-second, first half, United Way; 30-second, NFL Network, fourth quarter; 10-second vote for game's Most Valuable Player, second half; and 30-second consumer-generated idea ad, second half. "Set at the Super Bowl party of Cincinnati Bengal's Chad Johnson, Martha Stewart cooks for other guests that include British soccer star David Beckham, former U.S. attorney general Janet Reno, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, country music group Rascal Flatts, comic Jimmy Fallon, singer LL Cool J."

Nationwide Insurance: One :30, third quarter. "Takeoff on the domestic troubles of the Britney Spears family, starring estranged husband Kevin Federline portrayed in a dream about being a rap music star."

Now you know. Skip the third quarter potty break, lest you miss K-Fed's big debut as a commercial pitchman.

Meanwhile, stay tuned later this week, as Blogger Toddler unveils his pick for Super Bowl champ.