ABC Touts SUPERBOWL In "Dress Rehearsal" From FORD FIELD

(From Sports Business Daily)

ABC earned a 6.7/11 OVERNIGHT NIELSEN RATING for THE RAMS/LIONS MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL (MNF) PRESEASON GAME last night.

No comparable overnight from last year's TITANS/COWBOYS GAME was available.

In DETROIT, JOHN SMYNTEK noted last night's game marked the first MNF BROADCAST from FORD FIELD in DETROIT, giving ABC "a dress rehearsal" for SUPERBOWL XL.

ABC SPORTS Vice President/Media Relations MARK MANDEL -- "Any network that does the SUPERBOWL wants to have experience in the stadium where the game is going to be played, so we did request A DETROIT GAME."

Smyntek added that ABC SPORTS Executive Producer MIKE PEARL was expected to be at the game, "somewhat rare for an event that doesn't really count."

ABC Vice President/Production Operations ROBERT BRAUNLICH said of FORD FIELD, "Until you actually do a game there, and you start to get a feel for how the place operates, and how the camera cable works, and where you go, and access for things; until you actually start to work, that's when you find some nuances. So this is really important to us to have a dry run."

THE DETROIT FREE PRESS adds that the game also "provided a chance to test a camera pairing that's not even NFL-APPROVED yet. Instead of one zooming SKY CAMERA along the sideline, the ABC TEAM is thinking of TWO. It tried the idea Monday, with positive results."

MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL Director DREW ESOCOFF -- "We hope it will provide some cinematic-type shots. We're experimenting with that camera; we're not really sure what we're going to get, whether it's going to be something we want to pursue for THE SUPERBOWL."

SUPERBOWL XL Host Committee Chairman ROGER PENSKE appeared on MNF last night to discuss DETROIT hosting SUPERBOWL XL.

Penske said when people arrive for the game, "they're going to see a city with a lot of pride. We're going 20 years-plus now to get to our new game coming up in 2006 and I can tell you we're going to be ready. It's going to be safe, it's going to be fun and we're going to have a great game in the one of the greatest stadiums in the country."

ABC's AL MICHAELS -- "I always thought if I had a company and I needed a BOD, the first guy I'd put on is Roger Penske."

Earlier in the broadcast, ABC's JOHN MADDEN, after a clip of him calling SUPERBOWL XVI between THE 49ERS and BENGALS in JANUARY 1982 at THE PONTIAC SILVERDOME, the first and only SUPERBOWL to be played in DETROIT, said, "Everyone said 'DETROIT' and 'THE WEATHER' and 'WHO WOULD HAVE A SUPERBOWL HERE?' –- It was one of the most enjoyable SUPERBOWLS I've ever attended."