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Amazon Spoofs Alexa

Super Bowl Week Brings Localized SiriusXM Content, Smattering of TV Deals

Media and tech companies are headed down the stretch for Super Bowl Sunday with special programming and commercial previews, while TV promotions are somewhat muted compared with the big game in previous years, our survey found Monday.

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SiriusXM will offer multiple live broadcasts of Super Bowl LVI, including team broadcasts from the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams, the Westwood One national radio broadcast and a Spanish-language broadcast. In the week before Sunday’s NFL title game, SiriusXM NFL Radio, Mad Dog Sports Radio, SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio, ESPNU Radio and other channels will broadcast live from "Radio Row" at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Also, Kevin Hart and The Plastic Cup Boyz, Conan O'Brien, Brett Favre, Sway Calloway, Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Models and other celebrities will host their SiriusXM shows and podcasts live from L.A., said the broadcaster Monday.

Super Bowl halftime performances by Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige and Kendrick Lamar will be presented live on Eminem's Shade 45 channel and Super Bowl LVI Radio (channel 104). SiriusXM's 24/7 NFL channel (88) will begin broadcasting live each day at 9 a.m. this week through Sunday, said the broadcaster.

Commercials will be a big part of the Super Bowl discussion for some tech companies, with spots from Amazon, AT&T Internet, and Sam’s Club among those in prerelease. Sam’s Club’s first Super Bowl ad highlights the company’s smartphone app Scan & Go checkout service.

Amazon pokes fun of Alexa’s listen-in capabilities with a spoof on the voice assistant reading Scarlett Johansson’s and Colin Jost’s minds. The 90-second spot, previewed by Amazon CEO Andy Jassy in a Monday Twitter post, also gets in Alexa’s ability to set a scene: Jost tells Alexa, “It’s game day,” and the TV powers on to the game on Amazon Prime Video, blinds close and the wine fridge starts chilling a bottle of rose.

Other digital brands said to be readying commercials include Google, e-commerce company Rakuten, Meta and Verizon. Several auto brands are expected to focus on electric vehicle in their Super Bowl spots, and EV charging company Wallbox, is said to be making its first appearance with a 15-second commercial. Bloomberg reported in September, when ads were nearly sold out, that NBC was selling Super Bowl commercials for as much as $6.5 million. Variety pegged the top price Thursday at $7 million.

Best Buy is advertising big-screen TVs as low as $299 in the run-up to the Super Bowl. Discounts were modest in some lines. Samsung’s 70-inch Class 7 Series 4K showed $70 savings Monday to $679; the 50-inch model was discounted $80 to $399.

Two Sony TVs led results at Best Buy when we searched for Super Bowl TV sales. The 65-inch X85J Series showed $400 savings to $799; the 75-inch version is $500 off to $1,599; the 85-incher is $700 off to $1,799. All include three months of free of Apple TV+.

LG G1 Series TVs were shown for $3,699 (77-inch, $600 savings) at Best Buy Monday; the 83-inch model had $500 savings at $4,999. The LG models also had the three-month Apple TV offer. LG added to that with a month free of fuboTV. An LG 65-inch C1 series 4K TV was $300 off at Best Buy to $1,799; the 55-inch version, $200 off to $1,299. LG's C1 models include the fuboTV and Apple TV+ offers and $200 off a $700 LG sound bar. LG’s lowest price OLED, the A1, is $799 for the entry OLED 48-incher, a discount of $400.

Amazon knocked 28% off its 50-inch Omni Series Fire TV, bringing it to $364. Walmart nicked 15% from a Hisense 50-inch R6 Roku TV that’s now $295. TCL’s 75-inch 4 Series Android TV is a third off at Best Buy for $599. A Vizio 55-inch V-Series TV with built-in Apple AirPlay and Chromecast is $384, down from $499 at Amazon.com.