Earlier this week, as the New England Patriots’ plane touched down in Houston, Katie Nolan of Garbage Time with Katie Nolan fame, carried on a bit with a field reporter who was watching the Pats deplane from behind a metal barrier a good 50 yards or so from the players themselves. It was a bit about nothing, with the show’s ebullient host seeming as confused as her studio audience about what, if anything, is entertaining about watching scores of men walk off a plane.

It was an innocuous riff that went on for about three and a half minutes too long, which seems like a pretty good representation of the Super Bowl Hype Machine itself. There isn’t necessarily enough compelling content to fill a whole week’s worth of special programming but everyone tries to fill it anyway.

Having said that, this year’s Super Bowl has no shortage of great storylines. Most of them center around the dynastic Patriots and their coach and quarterback’s attempt to win a record-setting fifth Super Bowl championship. The Falcons boast one of the best offenses of all-time with the likely league MVP in Matt Ryan and a transcendent receiver in Julio Jones. It may not be the Patriots/Cowboys matchup that advertisers and NFL executives were craving but it’s got enough juice to energize fans in markets outside of New England and Atlanta to tune in.

The Patriots set a Super Bowl ratings record last time they were in the Super Bowl, with 114.4 million viewers watching New England beat Seattle thanks to Malcolm Butler’s last-minute end-zone interception in 2015.

Fox’s Sports President and COO Eric Shanks told the TV Critics Association last month that the Super Bowl has become “bulletproof.” He’s right. The last time Fox carried it in 2014, the Seahawks blew out the Broncos 43-8 and the game still set a ratings record at the time with 112.2 million viewers.

On Sunday, Fox will take full advantage of the lead up, starting live coverage seven and a half hours before the game with Road to the Super Bowl at 11 a.m. That will be followed by an hour-long window for its newest high-profile debate show. Skip and Shannon: Undisputed Super Bowl Special will air at noon. The network was expecting big things from Skip Bayless when it signed him from ESPN for a reported $5 million a year. The show debuted around 125,000 viewers in the fall, but was down to 84,000 as of Wednesday. Fox Sports is no doubt hoping interest in the show will be girded by putting it on as a Super Bowl special.

Fox’s Charissa Thompson hosts Fox Super Bowl Kickoff at 1 p.m. with panelists Colin Cowherd, Dave Wannstedt and Charles Tillman. That leads into the four-and-a-half-hour pregame show.

Joe Buck and Troy Aikman again handle play-by-play duties for Fox, the fifth for the duo. Erin Andrews and Chris Myers will handle the sideline duties.

After the game, Fox debuts the spin-off 24: Legacy in hopes of building an enduring audience.

Fox Deportes kicks off its live coverage at 1:30 p.m. ET with Fox Sports En Vivo. Camino al Super Bowl from 3 to 4 p.m. ET leads into the network’s two-and-a-half-hour pregame show starting at four. John Laguna, Jessi Losada and Brady Poppinga handle the Super Bowl call at 6:30 p.m. ET.

For the broadcast itself, Fox will have 70 cameras in total, including seven augmented reality cameras and more Super Motion and 4K cameras than ever before. The production team is also working with the NFL to deliver statistics with information gathered from transceivers inside players’ helmets.

On the advertising front, buyers are shelling out $5 million per 30-second spot on average, according to The New York Times. The cost of a spot has more than doubled since 2007, when it cost $2.4 million, according to Kantar Media.

This year features plenty of return advertisers, with some traditional companies getting out of the big game and other household name brands jumping in for the first time (thanks to Ad Age for its extensive glimpse into the upcoming Super Bowl ad market).

Tax preparation company H&R Block is back in the big game for the first time in nearly a decade. It purchased a one-minute spot featuring new spokesman Jon Hamm which will air during the game’s second commercial break.

Nintendo is in for the first time, with a 30-second spot promoting the upcoming release of the Switch, their upcoming hybrid device that’s somewhere between a portable device for gaming and a home console. That spot will air during the 4th quarter.

RELATED: Nintendo to Debut Switch at the Super Bowl

Wing-lovers will see the first-ever KFC spot during the game telecast. It’s a 15-second spot airing during the fourth quarter, and it stars celebrities Billy Zane and Rob Riggle.

Sticking with fast food, Wendy’s will have a half-minute spot in the first-half. The ad, produced by VML, is meant to illustrate the different between Wendy’s beef patties and its competitors.

Google didn’t have anything huge in last year’s Super Bowl, but returns this year to promote Home, the company’s virtual assistant. Experts say the ad buy was made in an effort to push promotion of Google’s consumer electronics division.

Of course, car companies will once more be big money-movers in the Super Bowl. Ford has a minute and a half spot that will air between the opening coin toss and kickoff. It debuted online on Monday. Buick, Honda, Kia and Lexus are all among the car companies who will advertise during the game, as well as Mercedes-Benz, back after an absence last year.

Beverages are another big market sector along with telecom. After a year’s absence, Sprint is back with a 30-second spot. T-Mobile is back for a fourth straight year and is expected to go heavy on the celebrity appearances per usual.

While advertisers are paying record-setting amounts once more to get in on the Super Bowl and talk of bulletproof ratings, it still would be nice to see a good game. Let’s face it—it’s been a drowsy playoffs for the NFL. Eight of ten games leading up to the Super Bowl were decided by double-digits. Eight of ten games posted lower ratings from last year. The league could use a classic Super Bowl. But even if they don’t get it, the telecast will still easily surpass 100 million. Every game since 2010 has. When you’re the NFL, you win even when you lose.

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