Kickoff for Super Bowl 50 won't happen until 6:30 p.m. ET, but that leaves a whole day to fill with pregame content. For CBS, coverage will begin more than seven hours before the game gets started, but there is also plenty of programming about the matchup of the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos from NFL Network and ESPN. Even Animal Planet and Hallmark have some special Super Bowl content.
With Super Bowl 50 likely to end at about 10 p.m., CBS will dedicate more than 11 hours of programming to the NFL on Sunday. Other sports channels like ESPN will switch coverage to other sports and events in the early afternoon.
But that leaves plenty of time to watch Puppy Bowl XII, which even has a pregame show of its own on Animal Planet. It's also the first year that the Puppy Bowl Hall of Fame will be introduced after Animal Planet partnered with the Pro Football Hall of Fame for 2016.
Hallmark will air the Kitten Bowl, which began two years ago to help bring awareness to pet homelessness.
The official Super Bowl pregame show on CBS is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. ET, and it will feature the CBS Sports crew interviewing the likes of Cam Newton, Peyton Manning, John Elway and Ron Rivera. The rest of the four-hour show will mostly delve into the 50-year history of the Super Bowl. CBS This Morning host Gayle King will also interview President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama during the 4 p.m. hour.
Before the Super Bowl officially kicks off at 6:30 p.m., pop star Lady Gaga will perform the national anthem.
Super Bowl 50 will pit the No. 1 seeds from the NFC and AFC, making it the third consecutive season that the two teams that finished atop the conferences in the regular season managed to both get through the postseason and advance to the NFL's biggest stage. The Panthers lost just one game in the regular season, and cruised through two playoff games, scoring 80 combined points against the Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals.
The Broncos limped through chunks of the season due mostly to offensive struggles exacerbated by a foot injury that sidelined Peyton Manning. Still, the team finished No. 1 in total defense and held the dangerous offenses of the Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots to just 34 combined points en route to the AFC crown.
Denver has won the Super Bowl twice in seven appearances and its eighth trip will tie the Steelers, Patriots and Dallas Cowboys for the most all-time. For Carolina, it's only the second trip to the Super Bowl, and the team lost in its only other trip, dropping Super Bowl 38 to the Patriots in February 2004. The Panthers are one of 13 NFL franchises that has never won a Lombardi Trophy, although there are four teams that have never even been to a Super Bowl.
At halftime on Sunday, Coldplay has been announced as the headlining performer, and both Beyoncé and Bruno Mars are both expected to join. Mars and Beyoncé have previously performed at the Super Bowl, although it will be the first showing for Coldplay.
The full schedule of pregame coverage for Super Bowl 50 is as follows:
| Program | Time (ET) | Channel |
| Super Bowl’s Greatest Commercials | 7-9 a.m. | NFL Network |
| NFL GameDay Morning | 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. | NFL Network |
| NFL Insiders: Sunday Edition | 10-11 a.m. | ESPN |
| Super Bowl 50: Before they were pros | 11 a.m.-Noon | CBS |
| Postseason NFL Countdown | 11 a.m.-2 p.m. | ESPN |
| Road to the Super Bowl | Noon-1 p.m. | CBS |
| Kitten Bowl | Noon-3 p.m. | Hallmark Channel |
| Phil Simms All-Iron Team: Super Bowl Edition | 1-2 p.m. | CBS |
| The Super Bowl Today | 2-6 p.m. | CBS |
| Puppy Bowl Pregame Show | 2:30-3 p.m. | Animal Planet |
| Puppy Bowl XII | 3-5 p.m. | Animal Planet |
| Super Bowl’s Greatest Commercials | 5:30-6:30 p.m. | NFL Network |
| Super Bowl on CBS Kick-off Show | 6-7 p.m. | CBS |
| Super Bowl Game Center | 6:30 p.m. | NFL Network |
| Super Bowl 50 | 6:30 p.m. | CBS |