Super Bowl Halftime Is No Longer a One-Network Show — And the Power Shift Has Already Begun*
For decades, the Super Bowl halftime show has stood as one of the crown jewels of American television: a singular cultural moment watched by more than 100 million people each year, broadcast exclusively as part of the big game’s telecast. Traditionally, the network airing the Super Bowl also held uncontested control over the halftime spectacle itself — turning it into a monolithic shared moment that dominated news and water-cooler conversation alike.
In 2026, that grip appears to be slipping — and not in the direction most fans expected.
On paper, the official broadcast rights for Super Bowl LX remain straightforward. The game — including the official halftime show headlined by global superstar Bad Bunny — airs on NBC and its affiliated platforms such as Peacock, with Spanish-language feeds on Telemundo and Universo.
But off-air, the ecosystem around halftime programming is fracturing in a way that challenges the idea of NBC’s monopoly over the spectacle.
The Official Show Still Has Its Place…
Bad Bunny’s performance at Super Bowl LX, scheduled for February 8 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, is one of the most-anticipated moments of the season. The reggaeton and Latin trap star will be the first solo Spanish-language headliner of the halftime show — a milestone that organizers and network partners have hyped as a massive cultural moment.
For many viewers, the show is the halftime spectacle — and NBC’s broadcast of it remains the centerpiece of Super Bowl weekend coverage.
…But Alternatives Now Split the Spotlight
What has changed is the landscape around that performance. In a bold move this year, broadcast affiliates owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group — which operate numerous local NBC stations across the country — announced an alternate halftime presentation coinciding with the game’s break. Dubbed the “All-American Halftime Show,” this counter-programming features its own lineup of performers and themes that appeal to a different audience, airing on Sinclair’s digital subchannels and syndicated platforms.
While NBC continues to air the official Bad Bunny show, Sinclair’s version represents something new: a parallel halftime event competing for viewers at the same time. For some markets, this means fans may tune away from the NBC feed entirely in favor of an alternate broadcast that aligns more with their cultural preferences or values.
That move essentially breaks one of the traditional media assumptions about the Super Bowl halftime show: that it is monolithically tied to the official broadcast and the network transmitting the game itself.
So What’s Changed?
Several broader forces seem to be converging:
Content Fragmentation: Modern audiences consume media across an ever-wider array of platforms and channels. Halftime isn’t just one show anymore — it’s a moment that can be customized and split by different providers.
Political and Cultural Divergence: The alternate show clearly targets a different viewer demographic and ideology than the official Bad Bunny performance, which has already stirred debate and even some public criticism ahead of game day.
Local Station Autonomy: Sinclair’s affiliates, while still carrying the NBC feed, have the ability to program subchannels and digital streams that don’t have to follow the network’s halftime broadcast — creating a de-facto secondary platform for fans who want an alternative.
Commercial Strategy: The cost and complexity of halftime production — which remains funded by the NFL and not by the broadcast network itself — has encouraged brands and media groups to explore new sponsorship and distribution strategies outside of traditional TV network models.
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