Best Seat in the House

Imagine watching a football game in 30 minutes, with no commercial interruptions and no down time between plays.

Or imagine being alerted on the screen anytime one of your Fantasy League players scores.

Or how about watching eight games at a time on one screen, or watching games live on your cellphone or laptop computer?

These are a few of the technological advances that will be available through DirecTV’s NFL Sunday Ticket pay package either this season or next.

Much of it is revolutionary and provides a possible preview of what football viewing could be like in the future.

For now, such technology is available only through a new Sunday Ticket adjunct package called SuperFan, which comes at significant cost.

First, one must be a DirecTV subscriber. Then there’s a price of $279.96 to get the basic Sunday Ticket season package. And then there is an additional charge of $99 for the SuperFan technology.

Also, in order to get the SuperFan technology, some customers will need a new receiver with interactive capabilities.

As incentive for new DirecTV customers to subscribe to the basic Sunday Ticket package before Nov. 5, four months of premium programming is being offered for free. A DirecTV spokesman said the value of the programming is more than $375. However, the offer is not available to current customers.

Of the SuperFan innovations, Fox Sports chairman David Hill, who since April has also been president of DirecTV Entertainment, said, “We’re taking the NFL viewing experience into another dimension.”

Hill knows something about innovations. He came up with the idea of a score-all-the-time graphic when he first became the head of Fox Sports in 1994. The graphic is now used in one way, shape or form by all networks.

Here is a rundown of what’s new:

* Game Mix. Two interactive channels, 702 and 703, enable customers to view up to eight games at a time on one screen. Using their remote control, viewers can go to just one game if they wish, or call up team and individual statistics from any game at any time. Or they can call up scoring summaries. Also, a graphic at the bottom of the screen informs viewers who has the ball and where.

* Red Zone. On this channel, the action jumps from game to game, showing the biggest plays and most significant moments, either live or on replay. Only Fox telecasts will be available on this channel this season. CBS telecasts will be added next season.

* Short Cuts. Channels 701 and 702 will provide edited versions of the Sunday day games in 30-minute versions. No commercials, nothing but game action. The edited games will be available by 9 Sunday nights and will be shown back to back.

* Day-after highlight playbacks. Customers with TiVo receivers -- or DirecTV’s new digital recording service, which becomes available in October -- can get edited three-minute highlight packages of each game on Monday mornings. These highlight packages can be played back at one’s leisure.

Another aspect of the SuperFan package includes approximately 100 games being available in high definition.

By next season, when DirecTV’s new five-year, $3.5-billion contract with the NFL kicks in, there will be more innovations, including several designed for Fantasy League players. For example, a viewer will be able to input his fantasy team’s roster and receive an alert when one of his players scores.

Being able to watch games by cellphone or laptop is another innovation coming next season.

The possibilities really do seem endless.

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Where to watch

*--* NFL REGULAR SEASON

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* ABC: “Monday Night Football,” 6 p.m. kickoff (switches to ESPN in 2006).

* CBS: Sunday games involving visiting teams from the AFC, 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. kickoffs (CBS will leave its pregame show at 9:52 for 10 a.m. games).

* Fox: Sunday games involving visiting teams from the NFC, 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. kickoffs.

* ESPN: “Sunday Night Football,” 5:35 kickoff (switches to NBC in 2006).

* To be determined: The carrier of an eight-game, late-season Thursday-Saturday package.

*--* NFL POSTSEASON

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* ABC: AFC and NFC wild-card playoff games on Jan. 7, 2006; Super Bowl on Feb. 5.

* CBS and Fox: AFC and NFC wild-card games on Jan. 8; AFC and NFC playoff games on Jan. 14-15; AFC and NFC championship games on Jan. 22.

* ESPN: Pro Bowl on Feb. 12.