Enlarge By Peter Morrison, AP Lady Gaga, or her music at least, could be the newest addition to Fox Sports' NFL lineup. A new kind of NFL scoring: adding music to TV game coverage. Don't laugh. Fox will formally announce today that it will do that on its regional Arizona Cardinals-Carolina Panthers game Sunday (1 p.m. ET) after an unannounced test on last week's Seattle Seahawks-San Francisco 49ers game. Fox Sports President Eric Shanks on whether such soundtracks will pop up on Fox's upcoming Super Bowl: "It's a possibility." Given you're bombarded with mood-prompting music in TV shows, ads and movies — and in stadiums and arenas during games — it's seems inevitable that sideline shots of, say, Bill Belichick could end up being accentuated by Lady Gaga's Poker Face. That's Jay-Z's I Know What Girls Like taking us inside the heads of kickers who just made game-winning field goals. Cue It's Raining Men as players run out of tunnels. Everything going wrong for a team? Who you gonna call?Ghostbusters! Fox's Shanks says game playlists could include famous artists — "the rule is you use it just once and don't edit it" — but will also draw on original medleys. For Sunday's game, Fox has 15 new cuts from James Cardoni, who has composed music for the prime-time show CSI. But having cuts you'd hear in movies, like spooky chords when babysitters find out the calls are coming from inside the house, is one thing. Knowing when to use them is another. "This is all in the execution," Shanks says. "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." Plus, he says, announcers during last week's test game needed to get their groove on "to get a feel whether to keep talking or let the music build the suspense or drama for the next play." Asked if NFL games might cross-promote Fox movies by using their theme songs, Shanks says "We haven't gotten that far, but that's really interesting. Have an NFL '70s night when American Idol has a '70s night? Maybe there's cross-promotion there." And purists really shouldn't write off this idea until, say, they see a holding replay set to Your Cheatin' Heart. College football doesn't share NFL's TV success TV football isn't always hypnotic. NFL game broadcast are averaging a whopping 10.8% of U.S. TV households — up 7% from 2009 — even though some games are on the NFL Network, which reaches about 57 million households; broadcast networks reach about 114 million. That 10.8% is the highest average since 1996. Each NFL TV carrier is up — CBS (12%), NBC (9%), Fox (3%) and NFLN soaring by 38% — except ESPN, which is off by 2%. For perspective, that 10.8% NFL average more than doubles the average rating for broadcast network prime-time shows. And despite their woes this season, the Dallas Cowboys remain TV stars. NFL broadcasts were 20 of this fall's 22 highest-rated TV shows, and the Cowboys were in six of them — as were Michael Vick's Philadelphia Eagles. Entering bowl season, college football has left viewers less than entranced. CBS' Southeastern Conference games were the highest-rated college TV package in averaging 4.2% — down 4%. ESPN's games were even, but ESPN2's were down 10%. ABC's games were off 10%, and NBC's Notre Dame games were off 12%. Games on Versus, which added 12 million households to reach a total of 75 million, were up 50% — but averaged an underwhelming 0.3% of U.S. households. And it didn't help that big-name, big-state Florida, Southern California and Texas weren't title contenders. Jalen Rose says he can still play Jalen Rose, a member of Michigan's Fab Five before ending his 13-year NBA career in 2006, is a NBA studio analyst on ESPN, which airs Miami at New York Friday (7 p.m. ET). Here are excerpts from Rose on a USATODAY.com Lunchtime Live chat Thursday: TRANSCRIPT: Chat with Jalen Rose On whether he could still play in the NBA: "Yes. In summers I still play and train with current players. I think I would still have sort of impact playing, but it would have to be the ideal situation at the ideal time (to try a comeback.) I do keep in shape these days and love the game as much as when I played. I'd never say never." On the surprising Knicks: "They are still just the sixth-best team in the Eastern Conference behind Boston, Miami, Orlando, Chicago and Atlanta. … The Celtics have an 85% chance of making the Finals." On Denver's Carmelo Anthony becoming a Knick: "If it were up to him he'd choose to be in New York. … I think the Nuggets will cut their losses by the trade deadline to try to get some value." Best candidates for TV jobs among NBA players: "Shaq, Grant Hill and Derek Fisher." On tweets in sports: "Anytime technology improves the way we communicate it's a good thing. … But freedom of speech also can expose some idiots. … Remember, tweet responsibly, since people look at tweets like we used to view pictures — that they represent 1,000 words." On hating Duke, which beat the Fab Five in the 1992 NCAA title game: "100%! Go Blue. And do they have a football team? But I guess someone could ask me the same question (about Michigan) these days." Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more