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Musical soundtracks coming to NFL broadcasts

Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend

Roger Daltrey, left and Pete Townshend of The Who perform during a press conference at the Super Bowl XLIV media center, Thursday, Feb. 4, 2010 in Ft. Lauderdale , Fla. The band will perform durning halftime at the Super Bowl football game Sunday. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

AP

Background music is such an ingrained part of movies and TV that we hardly even notice it. But a football game?

Michael Hiestand of USA Today reports that FOX has begun adding music to televised NFL games. The network actually started it, unannounced, with last week’s Seahawks-49ers game, and this weekend they’ve announced they’re doing it again for the Cardinals-Panthers game.

A sample of the way it was used in the Seahawks-49ers game is here. I think it sounds a little goofy and adds nothing to the broadcast, but FOX Sports President Eric Shanks thinks otherwise.

“This is all in the execution,” Shanks said. “Just like music in movies, you have to use it at the right times. And imagine trying to score a movie the first time you’re seeing it.”

Shanks calls using music during the Super Bowl “a possibility.” I hope FOX thinks better of it. It’s not that football and music can’t go together -- those symphonic scores are a big part of why fans love NFL Films -- but during a live game it feels like a distraction from the action on the field.