NBC Blames 30-Second Super Bowl Blackout on 'Equipment Failure'

Ads that long were going for more than $5 million

About 100 million people thought something was up with their TVs midway through the second quarter of Super Bowl LII tonight when their screens went black.

At 7:38 p.m. ET, after the Patriots scored their second field goal of the game, the network went to a commercial break. But instead of a commercial, there was 30 full seconds of dead air—black screen, no sound.

NBC then returned to the game, with announcer Al Michaels welcoming viewers back and no mention of what happened.

“We had a brief equipment failure that we quickly resolved,” NBC said in a statement.

AW+

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Subscribe today!

To Read the Full Story Become an Adweek+ Subscriber

View Subscription Options

Already a member? Sign in