Fifty years ago, Super Bowl I was jointly televised by CBS and NBC.

This Sunday, all eyes will be on CBS when the Denver Broncos take on the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50.

That likely comes as no surprise, given that CBS announced itself as the home for Super Bowl 50 one day after Super Bowl 49 ended, marking the launch of a year-long campaign.

It will mark the culmination of one of CBS’ hardest hitting and ubiquitous campaigns in their storied history.

“There has never been a promotional campaign as broad ranging and as large as the promotional campaign behind Super Bowl 50,” said Sean McManus, Chairman of CBS Sports and executive producer of Super Bowl 50, during the Winter TCA Tour.

CBS and all of their affiliates have presented a united front, utilizing 40 of CBS’s biggest celebrities, according to Adweek.

In an interview with Adweek, George Schweitzer, president of CBS Marketing Group, estimates the network made “hundreds and hundreds of promos” for the event.

The Olympics aren’t until this summer, but CBS is going for gold, wrapping everything in the traditional 50th anniversary color for the biggest TV event of every year.

The gold-for-broke motif hasn’t just been relegated to CBS Sports.

CBS’ entire fall campaign was tinged with gold, and on December 19, exactly fifty days before Super Bowl 50 (there’s a theme here), CBS’ network turned gold completely: its logo, key art, ads, everything and everyone on CBS in the Super Bowl spirit.

It’s only gotten crazier in the final week leading up to the big game.

Every night this week, CBS goes live for one minute at 8 PM to cover the event, which began on Monday with announcer Jim Nantz reporting from Media Day.

On Tuesday, CBS aired a special two-hour version of CBS’ annual The Super Bowl’s Greatest Commercials that won the ratings game.

This Friday night, CBS teams with the NFL for The Super Bowl’s Greatest Halftime Shows, another two-hour special, and Saturday night will feature the 5th annual NFL Honors program.

Entertainment Tonight and The Insider will similarly be hosted from Super Bowl 50.

Obviously, the game isn’t the only thing CBS is selling.

Following the Super Bowl, there will be the much ballyhooed never-been-done live edition of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and a special edition of The Late Late Show with James Corden.

Corden and Colbert have been integral parts of the campaign, promoting the game, their own shows, the Grammys (coming February 15) and of course, the half-time show, headlined by Coldplay, Beyonce and Bruno Mars.

The newest installment of Corden’s viral sensation “Carpool Karaoke” series featured Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, and is the latest salvo:

CBS promises seven hours of pregame programming, emanating from four different sets in and around Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.

CBS not only hopes to make history on Sunday, but is banking on its own storied NFL past, airing an original ad from 1967 featuring star Jackie Gleason promoting the first Super Bowl on Saturday night.

The network has also looked to the future, welcoming streamers to the event and allowing viewers to access the broadcast online at CBSSports.com.

In addition, Toyota has partnered with CBS to present fans with one free month of CBS All Access, expiring February 29 (code word: PRIUS), allowing viewers to binge watch any of CBS’ content to ward off the nation’s Super Bowl hangover.

While CBS doesn’t care if Super Bowl 50 break ratings records or not, it clearly hasn’t been holding anything back.

“This is Halley’s Comet—this is once in a lifetime,” said Schweitzer, to Adweek. “I’m not going to be here for the 100th, but I’m here for the 50th. So we’re doing everything now.”

That hasn’t stopped the preparations for Super Bowl 100.

“Our promo campaign for that will start, actually, next week,” joked McManus, at the TCAs.

In the meantime, Super Bowl 50 airs at 6:30 PM ET, 3:30 PM PT, Sunday, February 7, only on (you guessed it) CBS.

Read more: Adweek

Brief Take: CBS hasn’t taken for granted a large audience for Super Bowl 50, and instead, has shown a rare united front that will likely be the gold standard for the event going forward.

[Cube image courtesy of CBS Sports via Adweek]

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